Do Political Parties Matter? Evidence from U.S. Cities
利用断点回归设计分析美国城市，发现市长党派不影响政府规模、公共支出或犯罪率，但存在显著的现任效应，支持蒂伯特竞争机制。
Are cities as politically polarized as states and countries? “No” is the answer from our regression discontinuity design analysis, which shows that whether the mayor is a Democrat or a Republican does not affect the size of city government, the allocation of local public spending, or crime rates. However, there is a substantial incumbent effect for mayors. We investigate three mechanisms that could account for the striking lack of partisan impact at the local level, and find the most support for Tiebout competition among localities within metropolitan areas.