Diversity in Government: Evidence from California City Councils

• Departmental Seminar

Date and Location

Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
3001 Plant and Environmental Sciences

Abstract

How does diversity in government impact public good provision? To address this question, we construct a novel dataset linking the ethnicity of California city council candidates to election outcomes and expenditure decisions. We then study how the narrow election of a candidate whose ethnicity differs from the city’s modal ethnicity affects expenditure decisions. We find that higher diversity on the council leads to less spending on public goods and fewer votes for affected council members when they run for reelection.