Do Political Parties Matter? Evidence from U.S. Cities

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Finance Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
Economics
Finance and Financial Management
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Ferreira, Fernando V
Gyourko, Joseph
Contributor
Abstract

Are cities as politically polarized as states and countries? “No” is the answer from our regression discontinuity design analysis, which shows that whether the mayor is a Democrat or a Republican does not affect the size of city government, the allocation of local public spending, or crime rates. However, there is a substantial incumbent effect for mayors. We investigate three mechanisms that could account for the striking lack of partisan impact at the local level, and find the most support for Tiebout competition among localities within metropolitan areas.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2009-02-01
Journal title
The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
Recommended citation
Collection