Research Insights: How Do Elections Affect Policy Outcomes?

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Peer Reviewed icon Peer Reviewed
Date issued
Oct 2020
Subject
Public Policy;
Elections;
Policy Making
JEL code
D73 - Bureaucracy • Administrative Processes in Public Organizations • Corruption;
D72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior;
H70 - State and Local Government • Intergovernmental Relations: General;
C57 - Econometrics of Games and Auctions
Country
United States
Category
Catalogs and Brochures
The opportunity to run for reelection provides a significant incentive for incumbent U.S. governors to exert effort, creating a disciplining effect. This improves policy outcomes by 4.9 percent. Reelected governors are more aligned with voters than non-reelected governors, meaning that elections induce a selection effect. This selection improves policy outcomes by 2.9 percent. The widely used two-term election regime improves voter welfare by 4.2 percent compared to a one-term regime. Better voter information about governor effort further increases voter welfare by up to 0.5 percent.