Does Voluntary Voting Enhance Partisan Bias? Evidence from Chile

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Pablo Argote
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Data ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Authority ◽  
Large Share ◽  
Partisan Bias ◽  
Electoral Outcome ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Electoral Uncertainty

Abstract Although partisan bias – when an authority transfers discretionary public resources to a politically aligned receiver − has been extensively studied, less is known about how this practice is affected by the voting regime − compulsory or voluntary voting. In this article, I study partisan bias in Chile, using administrative data of transfers from the central authority to local governments, highlighting two relevant scope conditions: the electoral cycle, and electoral uncertainty caused by the adoption of voluntary voting. I found strong evidence of partisan bias, especially in election years and in electorally riskier municipalities. This suggests that the uncertainty introduced by this electoral reform induced politicians to allocate a large share of resources to risky municipalities, because such resources would play a more significant role in the electoral outcome. Overall, these results imply that voluntary voting has a large impact on the way that resources are allocated across subnational units.

Assessing Public Expenditures in Small Towns

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Helpap
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Fire Protection ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Community Characteristics ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Public Resources

Large, urban governments often provide a tremendous variety of public goods, while the expenditures of small communities usually address basic needs such as fire protection and road maintenance. However, certain small local governments dedicate significant public resources to recreation, culture, and public health services, among others. This research examines the variation in services provided by these smaller, often overlooked governments. Differences are explained, at least partially, by various community characteristics, location, and capacity. For the millions of people who reside in these communities, the findings illustrate why variations exist and what, potentially, can be done to alter expenditure levels.

scholarly journals Mayors, Using Cultural Expenditure in An Opportunistic Way Improves the Chances of Re-Election, but Do Not Do It: Revisiting Political Budget Cycles

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 9095
Author(s):  
Jordi Sanjuán ◽  
Pau Rausell ◽  
Vicente Coll ◽  
Raül Abeledo
Keyword(s):  
Logit Model ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Political Budget Cycles ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Merit Goods ◽  
Local Government Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Government Level

This article analyzes whether expenditure on the provision of merit goods, culture, health, education, and sports, by local governments, in medium-sized cities (between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants) is tied to the electoral cycle; that is, whether expenditure increases in the run up to an electoral process. Further, we analyze whether the increase in spending on Culture by local governments has any significant effect on the probability of local governments being re-elected. To answer these questions, a database of 350 medium-sized municipalities is used comprising the period 2011 to 2019, when two municipal elections were held in Spain; in 2015 and in 2019. The results confirm that both total spending and spending on culture and sports, are tied to the electoral cycle, while expenditure on other merit goods is not. Moreover, using a logit model, it is confirmed that an increase in culture expenditure has a significant effect on the probability of the government being re-elected. Specifically, a one-third increase in cultural expenditure, as a proportion of total expenditure (e.g., passing from 6% to 8%) at local government level, improves re-election chances by almost 10%.

scholarly journals Digging into the Pocketbook: Evidence on Economic Voting from Income Registry Data Matched to a Voter Survey

2017 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW J. HEALY ◽  
MIKAEL PERSSON ◽  
ERIK SNOWBERG
Keyword(s):  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Economic Voting ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Partisan Bias ◽  
Economic Information ◽  
Financial Conditions

To paint a fuller picture of economic voters, we combine personal income records with a representative election survey. We examine three central topics in the economic voting literature: pocketbook versus sociotropic voting, the effects of partisanship on economic evaluations, and voter myopia. First, we show that voters who appear in survey data to be voting based on the national economy are, in fact, voting equally on the basis of their personal financial conditions. Second, there is strong evidence of both partisan bias and economic information in economic evaluations, but personal economic data is required to separate the two. Third, although in experiments and aggregate historical data recent economic conditions appear to drive vote choice, we find no evidence of myopia when we examine actual personal economic data.

scholarly journals Courts and the mediation of public resource (AB) use during elections in Malawi

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-55
Author(s):  
Mwiza Jo Nkhata
Keyword(s):  
Political Actors ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Public Resource ◽  
Public Resources

The (ab)use of public resources during elections in Malawi is a recurrent phenomenon. The judicial mediation of the (ab)use of public resources has, however, not been extensive. In instances where courts have intervened, their pronouncements have done little to stem the practice, especially by incumbents. This paper interrogates the judicial regulation of the (ab)use of public resources during elections in Malawi. Among other things, it establishes that state media remains one of the most highly contested resources during elections. The paper demonstrates that the judicial understanding of public resources is narrow and may shield politicians from censure. In addition, political actors in Malawi seem interested in questioning the (ab)use of public resources only in the period immediately preceding polling without concern about any (ab)use during the rest of the electoral cycle.

scholarly journals Spatial Analysis of Local Government Fiscal Condition in Nebraska

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Maher ◽  
Mahbubul Majumder ◽  
Wei-Jie Liao ◽  
Yansi Liao
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Policy Advocacy ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
Uncertain Future

Many state governments, local officials, academics and even policy advocacy organizations continue to seek models and approaches that will help them assess the probability of municipal financial distress and crisis as we face an uncertain future. Local communities meet challenges where important decisions will need to be made about how to efficiently and effectively allocate scarce public resources with limited capacity. This research aims at examining the spatial patterns of local governments’ fiscal condition. It provides the analysis of municipal fiscal condition based on spatial patterns, more specifically, the proximity of a municipality to the urban centers of Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Determinants of Local Governments’ Transparency in Times of Crisis: Evidence From Municipality-Level Panel Data

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Tejedo-Romero ◽  
Joaquim Filipe Ferraz Esteves de Araujo
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Data Model ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Fiscal Pressure

The global financial crisis has had an impact on Local Government forcing it to be more transparent in management of public resources. This article examines theoretically and empirically the determinants of the levels of transparency in Local Governments based on the agency and legitimacy theories. For the purpose of this study, the analysis is based on the Spanish municipalities over a period of 4 years, between 2008 and 2012. Running a random effect panel data model, our results showed that transparency is associated with economic and political factors. Unemployment rate, gender, electoral turnout, and political strength have a significant effect on the level of transparency. For other variables like investment and fiscal pressure, we did not find significant evidence of their effect on the level of transparency. We conclude that the factors that best explain the variation in the level of transparency in the period of crisis are associated with political factors.

The Case of Accounting Information for Infrastructural Assets Reporting

2020 ◽  
pp. 176-201
Author(s):  
Dimu Ehalaiye ◽  
Nives Botica Redmayne ◽  
Fawzi Laswad
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Moral Hazard ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Infrastructure Investments

In a civil society, citizens require information to assist them in understanding and monitoring how public resources are managed. Accounting information produced by public managers allows such monitoring and helps citizens to participate in the political process when it comes to election or re-election of the politicians. This chapter discusses the case of investments in infrastructural assets and local government borrowing in New Zealand, with an emphasis on the role of accounting information in the context of moral hazard and fiscal accountability of local government politicians and leadership. The evidence in this chapter shows that New Zealand local governments tend to invest significantly more in visible infrastructural assets such as roads, land, and buildings. This confirms the moral hazard theory that local politicians may be prioritizing infrastructure investments that can be seen by their electorate as evidence of their performance in government, presenting a more favourable picture that leads to politicians' election or re-election on local government bodies.

Auditors and early signals of financial distress in local governments

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Cohen ◽  
Antonella Costanzo ◽  
Francesca Manes-Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Financial Distress ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Financial Indicators ◽  
Accounting Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Distress Risk ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Personnel Expenses ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to analyze whether and how a set of financial ratios calculated on the basis of financial statement information would allow auditors of Italian local governments (LGs) to get an indication of LGs’ financial distress risk and, hence, to support politicians and managers in promptly detecting financial distress. Design/methodology/approach A model comprising a set of financial indicators that would distinguish distressed from not distressed LGs through a logistic regression approach has been estimated and applied to Italian LGs. The model is built on the basis of information pertaining to 44 distressed and 53 not distressed LGs for up to five years prior to bankruptcy and covers the period 2003-2012. Findings The model reveals that the percentage of personnel expenses over revenues, the turnover ratio of short-term liabilities over current revenues and the reliance on subsidies (calculated as subsidies per capita) are factors discriminating non-distressed LGs from the distressed ones. Practical implications The model could have political and practical implications. The possible use of this model as a complementary tool in auditing activities might be helpful for auditors in detecting financial distress promptly, thus potentially enabling politicians and managers to search for different ways to manage public resources to avoid the detrimental consequences related to the declaration of distress. Originality/value This model, contrary to existing models that use accrual accounting data, is applicable to LGs that adopt a modified cash accounting basis.

scholarly journals Dynamics and Trends in Vaccine Procurement and Distribution in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-75
Author(s):  
John P Maketo ◽  
Bismark Mutizwa
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Quality Information ◽  
Public Resource ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Developed Nations ◽  
Vaccine Shortages ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

The subject of COVID-19 vaccines has generated debate across the globe as it has created a fecund ground for a plethora of dynamics such as vaccine diplomacy, misinformation, and struggle for dominance among global powers to mention but a few. Thus, the vaccine subject has taken-center stage in global discourses, resulting in developing and developed nations experiencing challenges in respect to purchase, transparency, and accountability in the administration of vaccines. The subject of vaccines in Zimbabwe has provoked public skepticism indicative of the existing trust deficit between government and the citizens. This emanates from strong evidence of abuse of public resources and hence questions of transparency and accountability especially in relation to disaster situations. To this end, this paper seeks to bring to light the trends and dynamics in vaccine procurement and distribution in Zimbabwe. The study examines the correlation between vaccine diplomacy (donation-trap diplomacy) and vaccine purchases. A chronological analysis of the approved vaccines, rejection of Johnson and Johnson and sudden acceptance, natural resource implications of the donations from ALROSA, poor public resource management, vaccine shortages, vaccine misinformation and vaccine cheating. Possible ways of enhancing vaccine intake through quality information are also discussed and Zimbabwe`s performance against other African nations is examined. The research ends by proposing a series of questions which should be embraced to fully comprehend the trends and dynamics of vaccine procurement and distribution.

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