What Explains the Success of Participatory Budgeting? Evidence from Seoul Autonomous Districts

In this study, we examine the association between the success of participatory budgeting and a number of variables that characterizes the participatory process in light of the participatory budgeting recently adopted by autonomous districts in Seoul. Specifically, we consider three variables (the number, attendance rate, and level of expertise of the participatory budgeting committee members), and examine the association between these three variables and the success of the participatory process, as measured by the amount of budget included in the official budget of the district. We find that only the level of expertise of the committee members has a significantly positive association with the measured level of success of the participation.