Beyond Beneficiaries: Donors, the Electorate, and the Returns of Policies

• In Event: The Many Angles of Policy Feedback

Abstract

How do politicians benefit from a policy? Politicians create and maintain policies even when beneficiaries do not reciprocate electorally, but existing research rarely explores alternative feedback channels. In this paper, we assess both direct and indirect political dividends of public policies by examining \emph{Minha Casa, Minha Vida} (MCMV), a programmatic housing policy in Brazil. We surveyed 2,119 MCMV lottery participants and found that winners do not hold incumbents or the benefactor party in higher regard than non-winners. But MCMV is not politically barren. General population surveys show that non-beneficiaries, a much larger group than beneficiaries, are aware of the program, and evaluate it very well. Based on a triple difference design, we find that MCMV contractor firms and their owners donate to political campaigns significantly more than would otherwise be expected. This shows that politicians reap political returns indirectly both through ``audience'' and ``insider'' channels.

Authors

• Natalia Salgado Bueno, Emory University

• Cesar Zucco, Getulio Vargas Foundation