ifo Dresden berichtet 4/2019

Directly Elected Politicians Streamline Administration

In a new study, we show that local unemployment decreases when the district administrator is elected directly by the people and not by the county council. Our results are based on a comparison of counties in Brandenburg, where the direct election becomes invalid if the voter turnout is too low and the district council determines the district administrator instead of the voters. We attribute the decline in unemployment to a better organization of the local job center in the district office. Directly elected politicians are apparently ready for more courageous reforms.

Gäbler, Stefanie and Rösel Felix