Influence of managerial ability on the re-election of municipal political parties

ABSTRACT

This article investigates whether citizens reward those politicians who achieve better results in public management with re-election. It analyses the last three electoral processes in Spanish local governments, a period that runs from the beginning of the economic crisis (2007) to the last municipal elections (2019). For periods of financial crisis, the results indicate a higher probability of re-election for governments that have better managed public services. In periods of economic growth, citizens do not take into account the capacity that rulers have shown in public management.

KEYWORDS:

• Re-election
• ability
• local government
• municipal elections
• management

Acknowledgments

The Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU-MEC 16/03180) has financially supported this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education [FPU-MEC 16/03180].

Notes on contributors

Bernardino Benito

Bernardino Benito is a professor of Public Sector Accounting at the University of Murcia, Spain. His research interests focus on public administration, sustainability, management, public finance, transparency, performance budgeting and cost of public services. He has recently published in, among other publications, Globalization and Health, Cities and Waste Management. He is the editor in chief of Revista de Contabilidad-Spanish Accounting Review.

Pedro-José Martínez-Córdoba

Pedro-José Martínez-Córdoba is an assistant profesor of Accounting at the University of Murcia, Spain. He is currently on a research fellowship at the University of Salamanca, Spain. His research interests focus on efficiency in the public sector and sustainability. He has published, among others, in Utilities Policy, Evaluation and Program Planning and Waste Management.

Maria-Dolores Guillamón López

María-Dolores Guillamón Lopez is a professor of Public Sector Accounting at the University of Murcia, Spain. Her research focuses on financial management, transparency and debt in the public sector. She is a member of the European Accounting Association and the Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research Network. She has published papers in journals such as Public Management Review, International Review of Administrative Sciences and Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal.