The Quality of Provision of Local Public Goods

How good is the quality of local public goods? Does quality, such as the cleanliness of public parks, play a role in local election decisions? The question is not easy to answer, especially given the lack of availability of appropriate quality indicators at the local level. Information from online complaint portals can provide new approaches and perspectives here. In this project, entries from the FixMyStreet.com portal in the UK are evaluated to quantify the quality of provision of local public goods in all municipalities in England since 2007. The results not only indicate substantial differences in quality among municipalities, but also that better provision goes hand in hand with higher chances of re-election of the incumbent in local elections.