Is there an election cycle in public employment? Separating time effects from election year effects

Arbeitspapier

Do governments increase public employment in election years? This paper investigates this question by using data from Sweden and Finland, two countries that are similar in many respects but in which local elections are held at different points in time. We can thereby separate an election effect from other time effects. Our results indicate that there is a statistically significant election year effect in local public employment, a production factor that is highly visible in the welfare services provided by the local governments in the Scandinavian countries. The effect also seems to be economically significant; the municipalities employ 0.6 more full-time employees per 1,000 capita in election years than in other years (which correspond to an increase by approximately 1 percent).

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Paper ; No. 2008:3

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior ; State and Local Budget and Expenditures ; Capitalist Systems: Political Economy
• Subject: Election cycle ; public employment ; exogenous elections ; Wahl ; Beschäftigungseffekt ; Öffentlicher Dienst ; Public Choice ; Finnland ; Schweden

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Dahlberg, Matz ; Mörk, Eva
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU)
• (where): Uppsala
• (when): 2008

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/78676
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET