Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/68454 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1262
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper studies the importance of politician's qualification, in terms of education and experience, for fiscal outcomes. The analysis is based on a large panel for 2,031 German municipalities for which we have collected information on municipal budgets as well as the election results and qualification levels of mayoral candidates. We principally use a Regression Discontinuity Design focusing on close elections to estimate causal effects. We find that mayors with prior experience in office indeed tend to reduce the level of local public debt, lower total municipal expenditures and decrease the local taxes. In contrast, the education level of the mayor exerts no significant effects on the overall fiscal performance of the municipality. The results are partly surprising as both education and experience are shown to matter greatly in the electoral success of mayoral candidates.
Subjects: 
mayoral elections
regression discontinuity design
politician's education and experience
fiscal outcomes
JEL: 
D72
H11
H72
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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