We consider the role of a politician's age in Italian municipal governments. When the term limit is not binding, younger mayors engage more often in political budget cycles than older mayors. Thus younger politicians behave more strategically in response to electoral incentives, probably because...

The paper estimates the political connection premium for Italian cities tracked during the second half of the 1900s, when the role of the state in the economy was very widespread. It leverages the peculiar features of the gridlocked political landscape in place between the end of World War II...

We analyze how having an incumbent among candidates affects electoral turnout. We use a rich data set providing information on the electoral results of Italian municipal elections over the period 1993-2011. Endogeneity issues are handled through an instrumental variable approach using the mayor...