Distributive politics inside the city? The political economy of Spain’s Plan E

Carozzi, Felipe ORCID: 0000-0002-0458-5531 and Repetto, Luca (2019) Distributive politics inside the city? The political economy of Spain’s Plan E. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 75. pp. 85-106. ISSN 0166-0462

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Abstract

We study distributive politics inside cities by analysing how local governments allocate investment projects to voters across neighbourhoods. In particular, we ask whether politicians use investment to target their own supporters. To this aim, we use detailed geo-located investment data from Plan E, a large fiscal stimulus program carried out in Spain in 2009–2011. Our main empirical strategy is based on a close-elections regression-discontinuity design. In contrast to previous studies – which use aggregate data at the district or municipal level – we exploit spatial variation in both investment and voter support within municipalities and find no evidence of supporter targeting. Complementary results indicate that voters may be responding to investment by increasing turnout.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2018 Elsevier B.V
Divisions:	Geography & Environment
Subjects:	J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
JEL classification:	H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations > H70 - General R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics > R5 - Regional Government Analysis > R53 - Public Facility Location Analysis; Public Investment and Capital Stock D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D72 - Economic Models of Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
Date Deposited:	09 Feb 2019 00:05
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 01:40
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/100057

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