Data and Code for: Political Turnover, Bureaucratic Turnover and the Quality of Public Services

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Diana Moreira, University of California, Davis; Mitra Akhtari, Airbnb Data Science; Laura Trucco, Amazon

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Data and Code 09/30/2021 01:07:PM
  Results 09/30/2021 01:07:PM
RD1.zip application/zip 224.6 MB 09/23/2021 12:29:PM
RD2.zip application/zip 1.1 GB 09/20/2021 09:17:AM
RD3.zip application/zip 1.6 GB 09/20/2021 12:04:PM
RD4.zip application/zip 802.1 MB 09/20/2021 01:03:PM
RD5.zip application/zip 1.1 GB 02/25/2021 06:57:PM
RD6.zip application/zip 1.2 GB 09/20/2021 04:26:PM
RD7.zip application/zip 1.4 GB 09/20/2021 05:25:PM
RD8.zip application/zip 367.7 MB 09/20/2021 07:02:PM

Project Citation: 

Moreira, Diana , Akhtari, Mitra , and Trucco, Laura. Data and Code for: Political Turnover, Bureaucratic Turnover and the Quality of Public Services. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-10-14. https://doi.org/10.3886/E150323V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary
We study how political turnover in mayoral elections in Brazil affects public service provision by local governments. Exploiting a regression discontinuity design for close elections, we find that municipalities with a new party in office experience upheavals in the
municipal bureaucracy: new personnel are appointed across multiple service sectors, and at both managerial and non-managerial levels. In education, the increase in the replacement rate of personnel in schools controlled by the municipal government is accompanied by test scores that are .05-.08 standard deviations lower. In contrast, turnover of the mayor's party does not impact local (non-municipal) schools. These findings suggest that political turnover can adversely affect the quality of public services when the bureaucracy is not shielded from the political process.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Bureaucrats
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      H41 Public Goods
      H83 Public Administration; Public Sector Accounting and Audits
      J45 Public Sector Labor Markets
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Brazil
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2006 – 2015
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 2013 – 2021
Universe:  View help for Universe All municipal governments in Brazil, its employees and students enrolled in primary education.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; observational data
Collection Notes:  View help for Collection Notes Please check on README file the sources of the data and any relevant documentation is provided by the source

Methodology

Response Rate:  View help for Response Rate Check README for original source documentation of the data
Sampling:  View help for Sampling Check README for original source documentation
Data Source:  View help for Data Source Study uses 24 datasets. Check README for original source documentation. 

Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) other
Scales:  View help for Scales Check README for original source documentation

Weights:  View help for Weights Check README for original source documentation
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation There are different units of observations in the study: i) local governments in Brazil; ii) Public employees working for the local government in Brazil; iii) Students enrolled in public education in Brazil
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit Municipalities in Brazil

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-10-14]

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