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Abstract
Using data on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), we examine the impact of salaries on the composition and the behavior of legislators. Employing a differences-in-differences approach, we exploit the introduction of a law that equalized MEPs’ salaries which had previously differed by as much as a factor of ten. We analyze the data through the lens of a simple, empirically supported model: MEPs produce legislative output using human capital (proxied by tenure and college quality) and effort (proxied by voting partici-pation). Doubling an MEP’s salary increases the probability she runs for reelection by 23 percentage points; thus, higher salaries increase tenure. Higher salaries, however, lower the other dimension of human capital: doubling the salary decreases the fraction of MEPs who attended a top school by 15 percent. Salary has no discernible impact on effort. Overall, higher salaries do not substantially improve legislative output; we can reject the null that doubling salaries in-creases legislative output by more than a fifth of a standard deviation. However, higher salaries do induce more political competition: doubling MEPs’ salaries increases the logarithm of the number of parties that field a candidate by 41 percent of a standard deviation.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Udgiver | National Bureau of Economic Research |
| Antal sider | 45 |
| Status | Udgivet - jan. 2012 |
Fingeraftryk
Dyk ned i forskningsemnerne om 'Labor Supply of Politicians'. Sammen danner de et unikt fingeraftryk.Aktiviteter
- 1 Foredrag og mundtlige bidrag
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Labor Supply of Politicians
Nikolaj Arpe Harmon (Foredragsholder)
jan. 2014Aktivitet: Tale eller præsentation - typer › Foredrag og mundtlige bidrag