POLITRAITS PROJECT
In 2017, I was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual fellowship to fund the project POLITRAITS -“Politicians’ traits and public policies: learning how personal features influence fiscal outcomes.” This project examines whether particular features of politicians may be relevant determinants of economic outcomes and policies. This approach shifts the focus of attention from political parties to individual legislators and aims at contributing to the understanding of how individual traits of politicians affect public policies.
Early studies on political economy have focused on institutional factors, voters’ preferences, interest groups, and party ideology as major drivers of public policies. These studies often treat parties as homogeneous units. In contrast, this project takes into consideration the heterogeneity of its members in several dimensions -in particular, the politicians’ commitment to the party line (i.e. party discipline), and the education of politicians.
Outcomes of the POLITRAITS project:
"Party Discipline and Government Spending: Theory and Evidence," (with Galina Zudenkova), Journal of Public Economics, 2018, 164, 139-152
Early studies on political economy have focused on institutional factors, voters’ preferences, interest groups, and party ideology as major drivers of public policies. These studies often treat parties as homogeneous units. In contrast, this project takes into consideration the heterogeneity of its members in several dimensions -in particular, the politicians’ commitment to the party line (i.e. party discipline), and the education of politicians.
Outcomes of the POLITRAITS project:
"Party Discipline and Government Spending: Theory and Evidence," (with Galina Zudenkova), Journal of Public Economics, 2018, 164, 139-152