The paradoxical success of corrupt politicians: evidence from a field experiment

This paper contributes to the literature on the explanations for the often observed phenomenon of the electoral success of corrupt politicians. It focuses on the particular case of the Portuguese municipality of Oeiras, where Isaltino Morais was elected as mayor after being convicted for corruption-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Queirós, Sara Maria Silvério Marques Amorim (author)
Format: masterThesis
Language:eng
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10362/48477
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:run.unl.pt:10362/48477
Description
Summary:This paper contributes to the literature on the explanations for the often observed phenomenon of the electoral success of corrupt politicians. It focuses on the particular case of the Portuguese municipality of Oeiras, where Isaltino Morais was elected as mayor after being convicted for corruption-related crimes. We collected data on 557 residents of the municipality. Data were collected four weeks after the October 2017 election. We find no evidence for the ignorant voter explanation but strong support for the implicit trading theory.