Electoral Rules and the Provision of Early Childhood Education and Care: Evidence from Brazil

Raquel Tebaldi and Alysson Portella

Journal of Development Studies, 2025, vol. 61, issue 7, 1126-1147

Abstract: This paper investigates whether electoral rules impact the expansion of public early childhood education and care (ECEC) services using Brazil as a case study. These services are provided mainly by Brazilian municipalities, and although enrolment for children aged 0 to 3 is not mandatory, it has increased continuously over the last two decades, with large heterogeneity between municipalities. Furthermore, electoral rules in Brazil establish a dual ballot system only for municipalities with more than 200,000 registered voters, enabling us to evaluate its impact on the ECEC provision through a regression discontinuity design. We find that public creche net enrolment rates are around five to six percentage points larger in municipalities under the dual ballot system. ECEC expenditure levels are around BRL 425 to 461 per child higher in these municipalities.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2025.2451873

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