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Electoral competition and political selection: An analysis of the activity of French deputies, 1958–2012

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolas Gavoille
  • Marijn Verschelde

    (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - ULCO - Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

In this paper, we study the relation between electoral competition and political selection, using a unique dataset containing detailed yearly information about members of the French National Assembly from 1958 to 2012. First, we innovate by proposing a measure of deputy activity to obtain insight into political selection. As we gathered information on the many aspects of deputies' individual work, we use a nonparametric composite indicator of deputy activity that fully acknowledges the multidimensional nature of parliamentary work. We argue that this measure of activity is positively correlated with competence and intrinsic motivation, two components of politicians' quality. Second, we exploit the large time span of our dataset to study the evolution of the relationship between electoral competition and political selection over time. Overall, our results show that deputies elected in a priori contested districts have a higher overall activity, with the intensity of this relationship reaching its peak in the 80's but constantly decreasing since then.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolas Gavoille & Marijn Verschelde, 2017. "Electoral competition and political selection: An analysis of the activity of French deputies, 1958–2012," Post-Print hal-01745350, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01745350
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2016.12.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandre Volle & Antoine Cazals & Bilal El Rafhi, 2023. "Another Wind of Change? Evidence about Political Outsiders in the French Parliament," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 133(2), pages 203-231.
    2. Bose, Paul, 2021. "Political (self-)selection and competition: Evidence from U.S. Congressional elections," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242377, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Marco Frank & David Stadelmann, 2021. "Political competition and legislative shirking in roll-call votes: Evidence from Germany for 1953–2017," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 555-575, December.
    4. Frank, Marco & Stadelmann, David, 2023. "Competition, benchmarking, and electoral success: Evidence from 69 years of the German Bundestag," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    5. Nicolas Gavoille, 2021. "Pay for politicians and campaign spending: evidence from the French municipal elections," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 455-477, September.
    6. Gavoille, Nicolas, 2018. "Who are the ‘ghost’ MPs? Evidence from the French parliament," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 134-148.
    7. Leroux, Anke & Söderberg, Magnus, 2023. "Network Regulation under electoral competition," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    8. Cheng, Maoyong & Meng, Yu & Zhang, Muyang, 2024. "Blessing or bane: The absence of a leader, political selection, and economic growth," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    9. Däubler, Thomas & Linek, Lukáš, 2024. "Party selectors, voters, and the choice of productive representatives under different types of list proportional representation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    10. Naruki Notsu & Asahi Semma & Shuko Harada, 2025. "Complete Loss of Competition:Uncontested Elections and Political Rents," OSIPP Discussion Paper 25E004, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    11. Frémeaux, Nicolas & Maarek, Paul, 2025. "Less but better? The influence of gender on political activity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    12. Kauder Björn & Potrafke Niklas, 2019. "Conservative Politicians and Voting on Same-sex Marriage," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 600-617, December.
    13. Caroline Le Pennec, 2024. "Strategic Campaign Communication: Evidence from 30,000 Candidate Manifestos," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(658), pages 785-810.
    14. Markus Jokela & Jaakko Meriläinen & Janne Tukiainen & Åsa von Schoultz, 2022. "Personality Traits and Cognitive Ability in Political Selection," Discussion Papers 152, Aboa Centre for Economics.
    15. Frank, Marco & Stadelmann, David, 2022. "Competition, Benchmarking, and Electoral Success: Evidence from 65 years of the German Bundestag," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264070, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. De Santo, Alessia & Le Maux, Benoît, 2023. "On the optimal size of legislatures: An illustrated literature review," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    17. Mansuri, Ghazala & Palaniswamy, Nethra & Rao, Vijayendra & Shrestha, Slesh A., 2023. "Money versus Kudos: The impact of incentivizing local politicians in India," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    18. Sávio L. C. Oliveira & Wallace Patrick S. F. Souza, 2022. "Political competition and candidate selection in Brazilian municipalities," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(2), pages 1171-1179.
    19. Däubler, Thomas & Linek, Lukáš, 2024. "Party selectors, voters, and the choice of productive representatives under different types of list proportional representation," MPRA Paper 122594, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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