What is the impact of campaign spending on votes? Does it vary across election types and across political parties? Estimating these effects requires comprehensive data on spending across candidates, parties and elections, as well as identification strategies that successfully deal with the...

We analyze the incentives created by debt financing in political campaigns. Debt is a significant source of funding for political campaigns, with almost half of all campaigns relying on some form of debt. Moreover, indebted politicians raise more funds in subsequent elections, especially from...