Legislative Pensions and Re‐election Seeking

Evidence from Canadian Legislatures

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12010682
AutoresStefano Burzo (0000-0002-3416-093X, University of British Columbia), Bert Kramer (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis), Daniel Irwin (University of British Columbia), Christopher Kam (0000-0002-2431-4675, University of British Columbia, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Volumen49
Número2
Páginas383-409
Fecha de publicación2023-06-07
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLegislative Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0362-9805 • E-ISSN: 1939-9162
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lsq.12424
OpenAlexW4379739732
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas32

We use data from Canadian legislatures to examine how legislative pension rules affect the propensity of incumbents to seek re‐election. We predict that legislators with defined‐benefits pensions are more likely to seek re‐election than legislators without pensions. Once the legislator is vested (i.e., qualified) in the pension, however, this incentive disappears; indeed, pensions that accrue value quickly and can be collected at an early age, induce legislators to retire rather than seek re‐election. Difference‐in‐differences estimates bear out these predictions: on average, legislators with defined benefits pensions are 11 percentage points more likely to seek re‐election than legislators without pensions, whereas legislators who on vesting immediately qualify for a pension of 50% of their salary are 11 percentage points less likely to do so. These results show that legislative pensions alter the value that legislators place on re‐election and, in doing so, they affect the accumulation of legislative professionalism and the strength of democratic accountability

Accountability · Business · Economics · Incentive · Legislation · Legislator · Legislature · Market economy · Pension · Political science · Salary · Value (mathematics · Vesting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Law · Public Administration