Empirical Analysis of Public Choice in a Local Governments Setting: Retrospective Voting and the Behavior of Interest Group

• Project/Area Number: 24530359
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Public finance/Monetary economics
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: NISHIKAWA Masashi 青山学院大学, 経済学部, 教授 (90334143)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥5,070,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,170,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
• Keywords: 公共選択論 / 地方財政 / 市町村 / 政治経済学 / 公共経済学 / 政治的意思決定 / 地方選挙 / 公共選択 / 首長選挙 / 業績投票 / 地方自治体 / 職員団体 / 公務員給与 / 入札制度 / 市町村合併 / 地方政治 / 原子力 / retrospective voting

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The main results of this research project are as follows: (a) Municipal mayors tended to win elections through weakening their own local public finances, especially in the recession of 1980-2004. This implies that voters are less motivated to hold back on worsening local finances. (b) It has been demonstrated that labor unions of civil servants succeeded to reject or mitigate the wage reduction requested by the central government. This implies that the mayors and local council members cannot ignore the pressures from local interest groups. Local government officials who are unable to ignore the interests of voters and civil servants are willing to sacrifice the local fiscal situation to satisfy voters and civil servants preferring higher expenditures regardless of fiscal impact.
I doubt whether it is wise to delegate authority to local governments with such tendencies. We should understand the public effect on local government more carefully.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] 地方公務員労組，賃上げ，フリーライド (2015)
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Journal Title: 青山経済論集 Volume: 66巻4号 Pages: 157-191
  • NAID: 120005947740
• [Journal Article] 再訪：公共工事における入札制度 (2014)
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Journal Title: 地方財政 Volume: 53(6) Pages: 4-12
  • NAID: 40020140358
• [Journal Article] A case study of economic incentives and local citizens' attitudes toward hosting a nuclear power plant in Japan: Impacts of the Fukushim aaccident (2013)
  • Author(s): Kato, Takaaki. Shogo Takahara, Masashi Nishikawa, and Toshimitsu Homma
  • Journal Title: Energy Policy Volume: 59 Pages: 808-818
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.04.043
  • NAID: 120006683968
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] 市町村議会選挙の基礎的分析 (2012)
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Journal Title: 経済研究（青山学院大学経済研究所） Volume: 4 Pages: 165-190
  • NAID: 110009526642
• [Journal Article] 地方自治体の業績投票：首長選挙と地方財政 (2012)
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Journal Title: 青山経済論集 Volume: 64(2) Pages: 75-106
  • NAID: 110009646666
• [Presentation] Wage Reform, Local Government Unions, and Intergovernmental Transfers: Evidence from the 2013 National Request in Japan (2017)
  • Author(s): 林正義
  • Organizer: 財政・公共経済ワークショップ
  • Place of Presentation: 東京大学
  • Year and Date: 2017-03-13
• [Presentation] Wage Reform, Local Government Unions, and Intergovernmental Transfers: Evidence from the 2013 National Request in Japan (2017)
  • Author(s): 林正義
  • Organizer: 六甲フォーラム
  • Place of Presentation: 神戸大学
  • Year and Date: 2017-03-13
• [Presentation] 共謀と癒着の官製談合 (2016)
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Organizer: 日本財政学会
  • Place of Presentation: 京都産業大学
  • Year and Date: 2016-10-23
• [Presentation] Inefficiency and Self-Determination: Counterfactual Evidence for Meiji Japan (2015)
  • Author(s): Eric Weese
  • Organizer: NBER Summer Institute
  • Place of Presentation: Massachusetts, USA
  • Year and Date: 2015-07-06 – 2015-07-24
• [Presentation] Retrospective Voting in Local Elections in Economic Downturns (2013)
  • Author(s): Masashi Nishikawa
  • Organizer: European Public Choice Society
  • Place of Presentation: ETZ, Zurich
• [Presentation] Retrospective Voting in Local Elections in Economic Downturns
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Organizer: European Public Choice Society
  • Place of Presentation: Zurich, Switzerland
• [Presentation] 原子力発電所に対する評価の変化：福島第一原子力発電所の事故の前後を比較する
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Organizer: 日本経済政策学会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京大学
• [Presentation] 公務員の労組と賃金
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Organizer: 計画行政学会
  • Place of Presentation: 宮城大学
• [Presentation] リスク認知の変化：原発事故の前と後
  • Author(s): 西川雅史
  • Organizer: 計画行政学会
  • Place of Presentation: 宮城大学
• [Book] 新しい地方行政におけるガバナンスの研究～多摩地域を事例として～ (2012)
  • Author(s): 面積制約下の市町村合併
  • Total Pages: 28
  • Publisher: 中央大学出版