| Abstract: |
We use unique survey data to study whether the introduction of local elections
in China made local leaders more accountable towards local constituents. We
develop a simple model to predict the effects on different policies of
increasing local leader accountability, taking into account that there is an
autocratic upper government. We exploit variation in the timing of the
top-down introduction of elections across villages to estimate the causal
effects of elections and find that elections affected policy outcomes in a way
that is consistent with the predicted effects of increased local leader
accountability. |