Joint research unit 7235

Can Public and Private Sanctions Discipline Politicians? Evidence from the French Parliament

Maxime Le Bihan, Benjamin Monnery

This paper investigates the effects of sanctions on the behavior of deputies in the French National Assembly. In 2009, the Assembly introduced small monetary sanctions to prevent absenteeism in weekly standing committee meetings (held on wednesday mornings). Using a rich monthly panel dataset of parliamentary activity for the full 2007-2012 legislature, we study the reactions of deputies to (i) the mere eligibility to new sanctions, (ii) the actual experience of a salary cut, and (iii) the public exposure of sanctioned deputies in the media. First, our diff-in-diff estimates show very large disciplining effects of the policy in terms of committee attendance, and positive or null effects on other dimensions of parliamentary work. Second, exploiting the timing of exposure to actual sanctions (monthly salary cuts versus staggered media exposure), we find that deputies strongly increase their committee attendance both after the private experience of sanctions and after their public exposure. These results suggest that monetary and reputational incentives can effectively discipline politicians without crowding out intrinsic motivation.

AGENDA

Thursday 30 November 2023

Colloques et Workshops

Workshop on gender issues and development

Thursday 30 November 2023

Household heterogeneity in macroeconomic models: A historical perspective

Aurélien SAÏDI

Household heterogeneity in macroeconomic models: A historical perspective

Thursday 30 November 2023

Lunch

Aurélien SAÏDI

Household heterogeneity in macroeconomic models: A historical perspective

Thursday 30 November 2023

Valuing climate change costs in presence of climate-induced land use changes

François Bareille (INRAe/PSAE)

Salle 614B de 11h – 12h

Valuing climate change costs in presence of climate-induced land use changes

Thursday 30 November 2023

Développement Durable Environnement et Energie (DDEE)

François Bareille (INRAe/PSAE)

Salle 614B de 11h – 12h

Valuing climate change costs in presence of climate-induced land use changes

Tuesday 5 December 2023

Recherche et Economie et Socioéconomie Politique, des Institutions et des Régulations (RESPIR)

Clément Fontan (UC Louvain)

The ECB and the inflation monsters: strategic framing and the responsibility imperative (1998-2023)

Tuesday 5 December 2023

The ECB and the inflation monsters: strategic framing and the responsibility imperative (1998-2023)

Clément Fontan (UC Louvain)

The ECB and the inflation monsters: strategic framing and the responsibility imperative (1998-2023)

Thursday 7 December 2023

Groupe de travail Economie Comportementale

Vincent Lenglin (Université Catholique de Lille)

TBA

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