A Comparative Analysis of Political Competition and Local Provision of Public Goods: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico(1991-2010)

Angela Rojas Rivera and Carlos A. Molina Guerra

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Abstract: We explore the effect of political competition on the local provision of public goods in three countries: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico from 1991 to 2010 using municipal data. These countries share characteristics that make a comparative analysis useful in understanding the role of governance structures, which include the degree of fiscal and political decentralization. Based on a multidimensional approach of political competition and bringing to the fore the role of congressional elections, we establish the effect of several measures of political competition based on lower chamber elections on indicators of primary education, sanitation and infant mortality. We find that Brazil displays the highest elasticity with expected signs in several public goods to most measures of political competition, while Mexico shows strong connection of political competition indicators to all public goods but negative effects of voter turnout and electoral volatility; Colombia is the least responsive except for infant mortality. These differences are attributed to influences stemming from local accountability and party discipline. Resumen: En esta investigación exploramos el efecto de la competencia política sobre la provisión local de bienes públicos en tres países: Brasil, Colombia y México para el período 1991-2010 usando datos municipales. Estos tres países comparten características que hacen el análisis comparativo especialmente útil en la comprensión del papel jugado por las estructuras de gobierno, las cuales incluyen el grado de descentralización económica y política. Basado en un enfoque multidimensional de la competencia política y destacando el papel de las elecciones de congreso, establecemos el efecto que ejercen diversas medidas de competencia política, basadas en las elecciones de cámara de representantes, sobre indicadores de educación primaria, sanidad y mortalidad infantil. Encontramos que Brasil exhibe la elasticidad más alta y con signos esperados en la provisión de los bienes públicos ante la mayoría de medidas de competencia política, mientras que Méjico muestra una fuerte conexión entre estas medidas y todos los bienes públicos aunque con efectos negativos de la tasa de participación y volatilidad electoral. Colombia es el país que más baja respuesta presenta, excepto por mortalidad infantil. Atribuimos estas diferencias a las influencias provenientes de la rendición de cuentas y la disciplina de los partidos.

Keywords: Political Competition; Political Responsiveness; Government Effectiveness; Government quality; Democratic Governance; Local Governance; Local Public Goods; Comparative Analysis; Brazil; Colombia; Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 H41 H75 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-09-01, Revised 2015-10-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Borradores Departamento de Economia 56 (2015): pp. 1-78

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Related works:
Working Paper: A comparative analysis of political competition and local provision of public goods: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico (1991-2010) (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:67383

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