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Ignorance is bliss: voter education and alignment in distributive politics

Author

Listed:
  • Federico Boffa

    (Free University of Bozen/Bolzano and Collegio Carlo Alberto)

  • Francisco Cavalcanti

    (PUC-Rio)

  • Amedeo Piolatto

    (UAB, BSE & IEB)

Abstract

Central politicians channel resources to sub-national entities for political gains. We show formally that the central politicians' allocation decision has two drivers: political alignment (between central and local politicians) and the level of local political accountability. However, drivers count one at a time: alignment matters before local elections, while local political accountability matters before central elections. We then perform a test of our model using Brazilian data, which corroborates our results. Furthermore, we show and explain why political accountability becomes a curse: better educated districts receive fewer transfers in equilibrium.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Boffa & Francisco Cavalcanti & Amedeo Piolatto, 2021. "Ignorance is bliss: voter education and alignment in distributive politics," Working Papers 2021/07, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    • Handle: RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2021-07
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    File URL: https://ieb.ub.edu/ca/publication/2021-07-ignorance-is-bliss-voter-education-and-alignment-in-distributive-politics/
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Federalism; Distributive Politics; Partisan Alignment; Voters' Knowledge; Political Accountability; Brazil;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations

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