Are elections in autocracies a curse for incumbents? Evidence from Chinese villages

Li Han ()

Public Choice, 2014, vol. 158, issue 1, 242 pages

Abstract: Are elections in autocracies a curse for incumbents? Using panel data from village elections in China, the OLS regression shows that introducing competitive elections has a relatively small effect on the removal of autocratic incumbents. However, the effect becomes much larger when the endogenous timing is instrumented with the passage of provincial election laws and village-specific election cycles. Additional evidence also suggests that removing incumbents through competitive elections enhances local governance. I interpret these results as suggesting that political selection matters in electoral autocracies. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2014

Keywords: Electoral authoritarian regimes; Downsian paradigm; Political selection; Incumbency advantage; Village elections (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1007/s11127-012-0004-3

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