Labor Supply of Politicians

TY - UNPB

T1 - Labor Supply of Politicians

AU - Fisman, Raymond

AU - Harmon, Nikolaj Arpe

AU - Kamenica, Emir

AU - Munk, Inger

N1 - JEL classification: D72, D73

PY - 2012/1

Y1 - 2012/1

N2 - 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. Increasing salaries raises the fraction of MEPs who runfor reelection but decreases the quality of elected MEPs (proxied by college quality.) Salary has no discernible impact on effort or legislative output. Higher salaries induce more political competition.

AB - 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. Increasing salaries raises the fraction of MEPs who runfor reelection but decreases the quality of elected MEPs (proxied by college quality.) Salary has no discernible impact on effort or legislative output. Higher salaries induce more political competition.

M3 - Working paper

BT - Labor Supply of Politicians

PB - National Bureau of Economic Research

ER -