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  5. Fiscal Rules and the Selection of Politicians: Theory and Evidence from Italy

蝌蚪网 Journal:
Economic Policy

ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)

Fiscal Rules and the Selection of Politicians: Theory and Evidence from Italy

  • Matteo Gamalerio
  • Federico Trombetta
蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy (Forthcoming)

Abstract

Fiscal rules, or constraints on the policymaking discretion of elected officials, are widely used to regulate fiscal policies. Using data on Italian municipalities, we employ a difference-in-discontinuity design to provide evidence of the negative effect of fiscal rules on mayoral candidates鈥� education. Municipalities in which fiscal rules meaningfully restrict the action space of politicians drive the effect. These results are consistent with a formal model of fiscal rules and political selection. We highlight that reducing discretion may affect the composition of the pool of players: it may alleviate pork-barrel spending but also negatively affect the education of politicians.

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