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Competing on Good Politicians

Author

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  • Galasso, Vincenzo
  • Nannicini, Tommaso

Abstract

Is electoral competition good for political selection? To address this issue, we introduce a theoretical model in which ideological parties select candidates between party loyalists and experts, and allocate them into the electoral districts. Non-ideological voters, who care about national and local policies, strongly prefer experts. We show that parties compete on good politicians by allocating them to the most contestable districts. Empirical evidence on Italian members of parliament confirms this prediction. We find that politicians with higher ex-ante quality - as measured by years of schooling, previous market income, and local government experience - are more likely to run in a contestable district. Indeed, despite being different on average, the characteristics of politicians belonging to opposite parties converge to high-quality levels in close races. Furthermore, politicians elected in contestable districts make fewer absences in parliament; this is shown to be driven more by a selection effect than by reelection incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Galasso, Vincenzo & Nannicini, Tommaso, 2009. "Competing on Good Politicians," CEPR Discussion Papers 7363, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7363
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political competition; Political selection; Probabilistic voting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General

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