Transcript Discussion of the paper Sharing Competences: The impact of

Discussion of the paper
Sharing Competences: The impact of local
institutional settings on voter turnout
by Claus Michelsen, Peter Bönisch, Martin Rosenfeld
Discussant
Vítor Castro
University of Coimbra, Portugal
EPCS 2011 Meeting
28th April – 1st May
General Overview: Aims and Findings
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Understand the role of local institutions and
their impact on political participation.
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Analyse the effects of institutional settings for
inter-municipal cooperation on voter turnout.
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Data for local elections in Germany:
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1661 municipalities; elections held in 2003/2004.
Evidence => local institutional settings and
better competences matter for voter turnout.
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Comments

Literature and theory: try to make it more appealing.

Good characterization of the institutional settings of
local governments in Germany: types A, B, C.
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But you could improve/clarify that description with the
arguments that justify your hypotheses.
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Explain the expected negative impact of Population.
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Estimation: should have used log(Pop), log(PopDens)
and the respective squares.
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Interesting econometric approach (with QML, β-reg.).
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Questions

Why only the 2003/2004 elections? Panel?
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Would results change if the sample was restricted to
states with elections on the same day (13 June 2004)?
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Cross-section => Heteroscedasticity? => Robust S.E.
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Population homogeneity? (Unemp_rate?): Why not a
variable for income/output per capita?
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Why is βUnemp_rate>0 “somewhat surprising”?
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Expected signs: φA>0? φC<0? – Typo?
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Interpretation: 5.5%, 3.4% or percentage points?
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