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Distributive Politics inside the City? The Political Economy of Spain's Plan E

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  • Felipe Carozzi
  • Luca Repetto

Abstract

We study distributive politics inside cities by analysing how local governments allocate investment projects to voters across neighbourhoods. In particular, we ask whether politicians use investment to target their own supporters. To this aim, we use detailed geo-located investment data from Plan E, a large fiscal stimulus program carried out in Spain in 2009-2011. Our empirical strategy is based on a close-elections regression-discontinuity design. In contrast to previous studies – which use aggregate data at the district or municipal level – we exploit spatial variation in both investment and voter support within municipalities and find no evidence of supporter targeting. Complementary results indicate that voters may be responding to investment by increasing turnout. Overall, our findings suggest that distributive politics only play a minor role inside the city.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe Carozzi & Luca Repetto, 2017. "Distributive Politics inside the City? The Political Economy of Spain's Plan E," CESifo Working Paper Series 6628, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6628
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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Alloza & Carlos Sanz, 2021. "Jobs Multipliers: Evidence from a Large Fiscal Stimulus in Spain," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(3), pages 751-779, July.
    2. Oskari Harjunen & Tuukka Saarimaa & Janne Tukiainen, 2021. "Love Thy (Elected) Neighbor? Residential Segregation, Political Representation and Local Public Goods," Discussion Papers 138, Aboa Centre for Economics.
    3. Carozzi, Felipe & Repetto, Luca, 2019. "Distributive politics inside the city? The political economy of Spain's Plan E," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 85-106.
    4. Gary W. Cox & Jon H. Fiva & Max-Emil M. King, 2023. "Bound by Borders: Voter Mobilization through Social Networks," CESifo Working Paper Series 10718, CESifo.
    5. Olle Folke & Linna Martin & Johanna Rickne & Matz Dahlberg, 2021. "Politicians' neighbourhoods: Where do they live and does it matter?," Discussion Papers 2021-03, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    political economy; distributive politics; partisan alignment; local governments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • R53 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Public Facility Location Analysis; Public Investment and Capital Stock
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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