Resignation as Promotion? Assessing Patterns of Early Departure in Argentina

• In Event: Strategic Choices in Changing Environments

Abstract

When (and why) do legislators quit their jobs? Previous answers to this question have focused on retirements. Looking at voluntary resignations instead, in this paper we argue that when legislative positions are not perceived as especially valuable, leaving congress to assume an elected (executive) position or a job in the (sub)national bureaucracy may be a career-advancing move. We document this claim with data from Argentina, where roughly 12% of elected deputies voluntarily quit before their
term ends, but rarely become unemployed.

Authors

• Juan Pablo Micozzi, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico

• Adrian Lucardi, ITAM

• Natan Skigin, University of Notre Dame