CHE Seminar Series: The Relevant Third: Threat of coalition and economic development
We examine the impact of political competition on economic development in a multi-party setting by constructing a novel measure of competition: threat from collusion. In our setting, a constituency is competitive when there is a `relevant' third-position candidate, i.e., the ex-post vote share of the third-ranked candidate exceeds the winning margin. Using data on Indian Legislative Assembly elections and a regression discontinuity (RD) design we show that constituencies with a barely `relevant' third witness a 1.2 to 3.3 percentage point higher growth in nightlights. The effects are largely driven by the constituencies where the eventual winner is aligned with the state government. The main mechanism is greater investment in public goods and a reduction in reported crime in constituencies with a relevant third. We rule out other channels by showing that there is no effect when the possibility of collusion is not credible.
Speaker profile
Pushkar Maitra is a Professor of Economics at Monash University, Australia. Most of his research is based in South Asia and spans Development Economics, Political Economy and Experimental Economics. His research relates to health, human capital accumulation and vocational education in developing countries, agricultural credit and microfinance, gender and affirmative action, and political economy in developing countries. He uses both survey and experimental data in his research. He has published extensively in refereed international journals, and has been the chief investigator in successful grant applications from several international organizations.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu.
Event Details
- Date:
- 21 August 2024 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
- Venue:
- Caulfield campus, Building H, Level 9, Room H914
- Categories:
- CHE Seminar; General
Description
We examine the impact of political competition on economic development in a multi-party setting by constructing a novel measure of competition: threat from collusion. In our setting, a constituency is competitive when there is a `relevant' third-position candidate, i.e., the ex-post vote share of the third-ranked candidate exceeds the winning margin. Using data on Indian Legislative Assembly elections and a regression discontinuity (RD) design we show that constituencies with a barely `relevant' third witness a 1.2 to 3.3 percentage point higher growth in nightlights. The effects are largely driven by the constituencies where the eventual winner is aligned with the state government. The main mechanism is greater investment in public goods and a reduction in reported crime in constituencies with a relevant third. We rule out other channels by showing that there is no effect when the possibility of collusion is not credible.
Speaker profile
Pushkar Maitra is a Professor of Economics at Monash University, Australia. Most of his research is based in South Asia and spans Development Economics, Political Economy and Experimental Economics. His research relates to health, human capital accumulation and vocational education in developing countries, agricultural credit and microfinance, gender and affirmative action, and political economy in developing countries. He uses both survey and experimental data in his research. He has published extensively in refereed international journals, and has been the chief investigator in successful grant applications from several international organizations.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu.