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Shared Mandates, Moral Hazard and Political (Mis)alignment in a Decentralized Economy

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  • Antonio Estache
  • Grégoire Garsous
  • Ronaldo Seroa da Motta

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of political (mis)alignment on public service deliverywhen mandates are shared between state and local governments. We analyze sewage treatmentpolicies in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Based on a regression discontinuity design, we establisha causal relationship between political alignment and higher sewage treatment provision.Conceptually, we find that, with uncertain local commitment and weakly enforceable localobligations, shared mandates lead to a moral hazard issue implying service under-provision.When political alignment is an option, our results show that it attenuates such moral hazardeffects.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Estache & Grégoire Garsous & Ronaldo Seroa da Motta, 2014. "Shared Mandates, Moral Hazard and Political (Mis)alignment in a Decentralized Economy," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2014-47, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/177104
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    3. George Atisa & Aziza Zemrani & Mathew Weiss, 2021. "Decentralized governments: local empowerment and sustainable development challenges in Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 3349-3367, March.
    4. Marco Catola, 2019. "Partial decentralisation and inter-governmental electoral competition in local public good provision," Discussion Papers 2019/243, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    5. Haiqing Hu & Di Chen & Chun‐Ping Chang & Yin Chu, 2021. "The Political Economy Of Environmental Consequences: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 250-306, February.
    6. Kresch, Evan Plous & Schneider, Rodrigo, 2020. "Political determinants of investment in water and sanitation: Evidence from Brazilian elections," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    7. Camos Daurella,Daniel & Estache,Antonio, 2017. "Regulating water and sanitation network services accounting for institutional and informational constraints," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8149, The World Bank.
    8. Colombo, Andrea & Tojerow, Ilan, 2020. "Appointed or Elected? How Mayoral Accountability Impacts the Provision of Policing," IZA Discussion Papers 13961, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    political alignment; infrastructure provision; moral hazard; regression discontinuity design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

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