Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/314665 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 11626
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
We analyze whether mayors' prior occupation in the local public administration matters for their performance. In theory, mayors' professional background may shape their competence in bureaucratic tasks. We use the example of grant receipts for visible investment projects for which mayors must submit an extensive application to the state government. Our dataset includes 1,933 mayor elections (1993-2020) in the German state of Hesse to which we apply a sharp RD design for close mixed-background races. Mayors' background on average has no effect on grant receipts. Yet, public administrator mayors do attract more grants than outsider mayors when they are ideologically aligned with the council, raising the motivation to apply for grants in the first place. We conclude that the competence of public administrator mayors only matters when they are motivated to use it, i.e. this is an example where incentives are necessary for the effects of political selection to materialize.
Subjects: 
public administration
professional background
administrative skills
political selection
mayors
investment grants
JEL: 
D73
D78
H71
H77
H83
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.