Does environment pay for politicians?

Mohamed Boly, Jean-Louis Combes and Pascale Combes Motel
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Pascale Motel Combes ()

Economic Modelling, 2023, vol. 128, issue C

Abstract: We econometrically assess how elections affect environmental performance, namely climate policy, using a sample of 76 democratic countries from 1990 to 2014. Three key results emerge from our system-GMM estimations. First, CO2 emissions increase in election years, suggesting that incumbents engage in fiscal manipulation through the composition of public spending rather than its level. Second, the effect has weakened over recent years and is present only in established democracies. Third, higher freedom of the press and high income that can proxy high environmental preferences from citizens reduce the size of this trade-off between pork-barrel spending and the public good, namely environmental quality. Deteriorating environmental quality can bring electoral benefits to politicians.

Keywords: CO2 emissions; Electoral cycles; Environmental policy; Panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 E62 O13 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:128:y:2023:i:c:s0264999323003036

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106491

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