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Accepted version

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2020-06

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cc-by-nc-nd (c) Elsevier, 2020
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/164733

Do national political parties matter? Evidence from Italian municipalities

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2020.101862

Abstract

Recently several countries have experienced a drop in popularity of national political parties, accompanied by the success of independent movements (e.g. 'Civic Lists' in Italy). I exploit the success of 'Civic Lists' in Italian municipalities and use them as a comparison group for party-affiliated politicians, to test whether national parties affect fiscal discipline. Using a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD), I show that party-affiliated mayors are more fiscally responsible: they run lower deficits, accumulate less debt and reduce expenditures. The effect is significant only for municipalities not constrained by fiscal rules. This suggests that national parties act as a substitute for fiscal rules in constraining politicians. Besides, I provide evidence that the discipline of party-affiliated politicians is linked to better career prospects: party-affiliated mayors have a higher probability of being re-elected and better chances of being promoted to higher levels of government. Alternative stories find less support in the data.

Subject

Partits polítics, Disciplina de partit, Responsabilitat fiscal, Administració municipal, Itàlia

Subject (English)

Political parties, Party discipline, Fiscal responsibility, Municipal government, Italy

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Articles publicats en revistes (Economia)

Citation

GAMALERIO, Matteo. Do national political parties matter? Evidence from Italian municipalities. European Journal of Political Economy. 2020. Vol. 63, num. 101862. ISSN 0176-2680. [consulted: 7 of August of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/164733

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