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LEGISLATOR INCENTIVES IN A FRAGILE DEMOCRACY: EVIDENCE FROM BUDGET ALLOCATION IN THAILAND
Author(s) -
KAWAURA AKIHIKO
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7287.2010.00229.x
Subject(s) - legislator , incentive , democracy , legislature , economics , government (linguistics) , public economics , representation (politics) , political science , microeconomics , politics , law , legislation , linguistics , philosophy
This article investigates if legislators in a fragile democracy share the same local benefit seeking incentives that are observed among politicians in mature democracies. Fledgling democracies are characterized by uncertainty over the survival of democratic institutions, which may discourage elected officials' reelection effort in favor of more direct measures to gain personal payoffs. Analyses of the relationship between legislative representation and the allocation of the budget among Thailand's 76 provinces indicate that Thai legislators are directing government expenditure to their home provinces. This result suggests that politicians' self‐serving motives play an important allocation role even in a young, fragile democracy. ( JEL D72, H59)