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Urbanization and the Change in Political Elites

Author

Listed:
  • Raphaël Franck

    (HUJ - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR)

  • Victor Gay

    (IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

This study argues that urbanization changed the relationship between the occupation of candidates running in parliamentary elections and their electoral success. To identify local-level variation in urbanization, we leverage exogenous changes to the boundaries of electoral constituencies in the 1928, 1932, and 1936 French parliamentary elections. The results suggest that urbanization was detrimental to the electoral success of lawyers but beneficial to that of employees and workers. This electoral effect of urbanization was especially felt on the left of the political spectrum, whereby left-wing employees and workers crowded out left-wing lawyers.

Suggested Citation

  • Raphaël Franck & Victor Gay, 2024. "Urbanization and the Change in Political Elites," Working Papers hal-04364519, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04364519
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04364519
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Victor Gay, 2021. "Mapping the Third Republic: A Geographic Information System of France (1870–1940)," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(4), pages 189-207, November.
    2. Franck, Raphaël & Galor, Oded, 2021. "Flowers of evil? Industrialization and long run development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 108-128.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Elections; Political representation; Urbanization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • K16 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Election Law
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N94 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: 1913-

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