We investigate whether the decision to experiment with novel policies is influenced by electoral incentives. Our …. We find that electoral incentives matter: governors with strong electoral support are less likely to experiment with … striving for reelection. The importance of electoral incentives is robust to controlling for governor ideology, voter …

paper uncovers the role of electoral incentives. Using a close election regression discontinuity design in Brazil, we first … political agency model where politicians seek re-election and where voters assess female and male politicians' actions … incentives and adapt their policy decisions to voters' expectations. …

How does competition affect the entry and selection of politicians? I use data on U.S. Congressional primary and …

A central question in terms of political (self-)selection relates to the incentives leading high ability individuals to …-)selection. Identification derives from murders of local politicians by the mafia, and indicates that such a negative shock to politicians …' expected payoffs induces a strong decrease in first-time elected politicians' human capital. The effect is not limited to the …

results suggest that over-reliance on elections to discipline politicians is misplaced …

How can we motivate "good" politicians — those that will carry out policy that is responsive to citizens' preferences … political entry shape how politicians perform in office …

results suggest that over-reliance on elections to discipline politicians is misplaced. …

consistent with public employees having an information advantage over other politicians, and thus, being able to influence policy …