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This paper explores the labor market returns to working for a victorious political campaign.
Using unique administrative data from Brazil, we track campaign workers’ employment and
earnings before and after close mayoral elections over nearly 20 years. We find sizable
returns to working for a winning campaign, especially in areas with large informal sectors
and for workers connected to challengers. Returns are concentrated in the public sector,
where connected hires are more educationally qualified, including at higher levels of the
bureaucracy. Our findings suggest that personal connections, not simply party ties, facilitate
the hiring of capable, though inexperienced, civil servants.
