6533b85ffe1ef96bd12c2541
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Public Employees as Politicians: Evidence from Close Elections
Tuukka SaarimaaJanne TukiainenJanne TukiainenJaakko MeriläinenAri HyytinenOtto Toivanensubject
Labour economicsSociology and Political Sciencepublic financesEmployment sectorPublic administrationRepresentation (politics)Public spendingPoliticskunnanvaltuustotpolitiikka0502 economics and business050602 political science & public administrationEconomicsta517050207 economicskunnan työntekijätta511julkinen talousjulkiset menotbusiness.industrypublic sector05 social sciencesPublic sectorpublic expendituresJA Political science (General)julkinen sektorimunicipal employees0506 political sciencePolitical Science and International Relationsmunicipal councilspoliticsbusinessdescription
We analyze the effect of municipal employees’ political representation in municipal councils on local public spending. We use within-party, as-good-as-random variation in close elections in the Finnish open-list proportional election system to quantify the effect. One more councilor employed by the public sector increases spending by about 1%. The effect comes largely through the largest party and is specific to the employment sector of the municipal employee. The results are consistent with public employees having an information advantage over other politicians, and thus, being able to influence policy.
year | journal | country | edition | language |
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2017-08-09 | American Political Science Review |