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Do Politicians Shape the Electorate ? Evidence from French Municipalities

Author

Listed:
  • Benoît SCHMUTZ

    (Ecole Polytechnique and CREST)

  • Grégory VERDUGO

    (Université Paris-Saclay)

Abstract

When public housing is managed at the local level, politicians might strategically influence admission policies to attract inhabitants more likely to vote for them. Using thirty years of municipal elections in France, we show that in cities where a left- instead of right-wing mayor has been elected, the share of immigrants in the population increases by 1p.p. within six years after the elections. Most of this increase reflects an increase in the share of non-European immigrants in municipal public housing. In cities initially endowed with more public housing, the effects are higher, more persistent, and associated with longer-lasting incumbent advantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Benoît SCHMUTZ & Grégory VERDUGO, 2020. "Do Politicians Shape the Electorate ? Evidence from French Municipalities," Working Papers 2020-18, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics, revised 01 Apr 2021.
  • Handle: RePEc:crs:wpaper:2020-18
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; Public Housing; Local Elections; Incumbency Advantage.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

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