|
on Collective Decision-Making |
| By: | Tina Fransman (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | Citizens ought to hold the state accountable for service delivery. This is usually done through the power of the vote. Literature on democratic governance suggests that theoretically, when good quality public services are provided, citizens would continue to vote for the political party in power. Therefore, it is expected that the inverse would occur should poor quality public services be provided. However, surprising evidence has recently emerged to suggest that political accountability does not work as theory assumes, indicating a negative relationship between improvements in public service provision and support for the incumbent for Southern African democracies. Using a unique panel dataset, this study tests whether a breakdown in the relationship between public service delivery and voting behaviour in South Africa indeed exists. It further investigates whether this distortion is the result of South Africans' preference to access other forms of political participation as a more effective route to political accountability, rather than voting in elections. The results seem to broadly confirm a breakdown in the relationship between improvements in public service provision and voting behaviour in South Africa. The findings suggest that South Africans consider protest action as an alternative route to political accountability. Furthermore, regression results provide some evidence to support the notion of spoiled ballots being a plausible alternative accountability route. |
| Keywords: | Accountability, elections, political participation, protest action, public service delivery, spoiled ballots, South Africa, voter turnout and voting behaviour. |
| JEL: | D72 H11 H41 H50 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers368&r= |
| By: | Havlik, Annika; Heinemann, Friedrich; Nover, Justus |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the existence of election cycles in public procurement in the European Union for the national level. We analyze different steps along the procurement process, namely the publication of the contract notice, the awarding of the contract, and the project completion. We point out how these steps should differ in their potential to address specific types of voters. We argue that the award provides politicians with a particularly appealing opportunity. It allows them to please the award-winning firms' stakeholders and the spending decision becomes binding and credible also from the perspective of forward-looking voters. We find robust evidence for electioneering in contract notices and awards prior to national parliamentary elections. The effect in contract awards is particularly strong for certain sub-categories like education and is more pronounced for visible projects. |
| Keywords: | Forward-looking voters,political budget cycles,retrospective voting,Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) |
| JEL: | D72 D73 H57 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:21079&r= |
| By: | Sebastian Rausch; Hidemichi Yonezawa (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Technology policy is the most widespread form of climate policy and is often preferred over seemingly efficient carbon pricing. We propose a new explanation for this observation: gains that predominantly accrue to households with large capital assets and that influence majority decisions in favor of technology policy. We study climate policy choices in an overlapping generations model with heterogeneous energy technologies and distortionary income taxation. Compared to carbon pricing, green technology policy leads to a pronounced capital subsidy effect that benefits most of the current generations but burdens future generations. Based on majority voting which disregards future generations, green technology policies are favored over a carbon tax. Smart "polluter-pays" financing of green technology policies enables obtaining the support of current generations while realizing efficiency gains for future generations. |
| Keywords: | Climate Policy; Green Technology Policy; Carbon Pricing; Overlapping Generations; Intergenerational Distribution; Social Welfare; General Equilibrium |
| JEL: | Q54 Q48 Q58 D58 H23 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:965&r= |
| By: | Paul Vertier (Sciences Po - Sciences Po); Max Viskanic (Sciences Po - Sciences Po); Matteo Gamalerio |
| Abstract: | Large migrant inflows have in the past spurred anti-immigrant sentiment, but is there a way small inflows can have a different impact? In this paper, we exploit the redistribution of migrants in the aftermath of the dismantling of the "Calais Jungle" in France to study the impact of the exposure to few migrants. Using an instrumental variables approach, we find that in the presence of a migrant center (CAO), the percentage growth rate of vote shares for the main far-right party (Front National, our proxy for anti-immigrant sentiment) between 2012 and 2017 is reduced by about 12.3 percentage points. Given that the Front National vote share increased by 20% on average between 2012 and 2017 in French municipalities, this estimation suggests that the growth rate of Front National votes in municipalities with a CAO was only 40% compared to the increase in municipalities without a CAO (which corresponds to a 3.9 percentage points lower increase). These effects, which dissipate spatially and depend on city characteristics, and crucially on the inflow's size, point towards the contact hypothesis (Allport (1954)). |
| Keywords: | migrant inflows,voting |
| Date: | 2020–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03385832&r= |
| By: | Quynh Hoang (DIAL - Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme, IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement); Camille Saint Macary (DIAL - Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme, LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement); Laure Pasquier-Doumer (DIAL - Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme, LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) |
| Abstract: | Ethnic inequality remains a persistent challenge for Viet Nam. This paper aims at better understanding this ethnic gap through exploring the formation of risk sharing networks in rural areas. It first investigates the differences in risk sharing networks between the ethnic minorities and the Kinh majority, in terms of size and similarity attributes of the networks. Second, it relies on the concept of ethnic homophily in link formation to explain the mechanisms leading to those differences. In particular, it disentangles the effect of demographic and local distribution of ethnic groups on risk-sharing network formation from cultural and social distance between ethnic groups, while controlling for the disparities in the geographical environment. Results show that ethnic minorities have smaller and less diversified networks than the majority. This is partly explained by differences in wealth and in the geographical environment. But ethnicity also plays a direct role in risk-sharing network formation through the combination of preferences to form a link with people from the same ethnic group (in breeding homophily) and the relative size of ethnic groups conditioning the opportunities to form a link (baseline homophily). In breeding homophily is found to be stronger among the Kinh majority, leading to the exclusion of ethnic minorities from Kinh networks, which are supposed to be more efficient to cope with covariant risk because they are more diversified in the occupation and location of their members. This evidence suggests that inequalities among ethnic groups in Viet Nam are partly rooted in the cultural and social distances between them. |
| Abstract: | Les inégalités inter-ethniques demeurent un problème préoccupant au Viet Nam. Dans cet article, nous cherchons à mieux comprendre l'origine de ce phénomène en explorant la formation de réseaux de solidarité dans les zones rurales. Nous examinons d'abord quelles sont les différences de composition de ces réseaux entre les minorités ethniques et la majorité Kinh. Nous montrons que les minorités ethniques ont des réseaux plus petits et moins diversifiés que la majorité. Nous explorons ensuite les mécanismes à l'origine de ces différences, en nous appuyant sur le concept d'homophilie. Plus précisément, nous distinguons l'effet de la répartition démographique et locale des groupes ethniques de l'effet de la distance culturelle et sociale entre groupes ethniques, ou autrement dit des préférences à former un lien avec des personnes du même groupe ethnique. Nous montrons que les différences de composition des réseaux de solidarité s'expliquent en partie par les écarts de richesse entre les groupes ethniques et des 2 environnements géographiques différents. Mais l'ethnicité joue toutefois un rôle direct dans la formation de ces réseaux à travers un effet combiné de préférences à se lier avec des personnes de la même ethnie et de composition démographique différenciées selon les groupes ethniques. Les préférences à se lier avec des personnes du même groupe ethnique sont plus fortes chez les Kinh majoritaires, ce qui entraîne l'exclusion des minorités ethniques des réseaux Kinh, supposés être plus efficaces pour faire face à des risques covariants car ils sont plus diversifiés dans l'occupation et la localisation de leurs membres. Ces résultats suggèrent que les inégalités entre les groupes ethniques au Viet Nam sont en partie enracinées dans les distances culturelles et sociales qui les séparent. |
| Keywords: | Réseau de solidarité,homophilie,inégalités inter-ethniques,homophily,ethnic gap,Viet Nam,Risk-sharing network,Vietnam |
| Date: | 2021–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03361332&r= |