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The Power of Parties: Evidence from Close Municipal Elections in Norway
Author(s) -
Fiva Jon H.,
Folke Olle,
Sørensen Rune J.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the scandinavian journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.725
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1467-9442
pISSN - 0347-0520
DOI - 10.1111/sjoe.12229
Subject(s) - economics , position (finance) , representation (politics) , power (physics) , affect (linguistics) , demographic economics , public economics , labour economics , political science , law , finance , politics , sociology , physics , communication , quantum mechanics
We show that small shifts in representation can affect policy in proportional election systems. Using data from Norway, we find that a larger left‐wing party leads to more property taxation, higher childcare spending, and lower elderly care spending, while local public goods appear to be a non‐partisan issue. These effects are partly due to shifts in bloc majorities, and partly due to changes in the left–right position of the council, keeping the majority constant. The estimates on spending allocations are rather imprecise, but they are consistent with evidence on politicians' fiscal preferences and patterns in media attention.