Exposing Corrupt Politicians: The Effects of Brazil's Publicly Released Audits on Electoral Outcomes *
Abstract
This paper uses publicly released audit reports to study the effects of disclosing information about corruption practices on electoral accountability. In 2003, as part of an anticorruption program, Brazil's federal government began to select municipalities at random to audit their expenditures of federally transferred funds. The findings of these audits were then made publicly available and disseminated to media sources. Using a data set on corruption constructed from the audit reports, we compare the electoral outcomes of municipalities audited before versus after the 2004 elections, with the same levels of reported corruption. We show that the release of the audit outcomes had a significant impact on incumbents' electoral performance, and that these effects were more pronounced in municipalities where local radio was present to divulge the information. Our findings highlight the value of having a more informed electorate and the role played by local media in enhancing political selection.
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Information matters in shaping public perceptions and voting choices, but it cannot sit idle in a website; it must be delivered to citizens.
“while information matters in shaping public perceptions and voting choices, that information cannot sit idle in a website but rather be delivered to citizens”
From Transparency and Trust in Government. Evidence from a Survey Experiment (2021) · cites this paper as Ferraz & Finan, 2008
Cites
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Björkman, M., & Svensson, J. (2009) · Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/qjec.2009.124.2.735 · Cited by 739 · see citing works
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Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation
Imbens, G. W., & Wooldridge, J. M. (2009) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.47.1.5 · Cited by 4,926 · see citing works
In Pursuit of Balance: Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments
Bruhn, M., & McKenzie, D. (2009) · American Economic Journal: Applied Economics · doi:10.1257/app.1.4.200 · Cited by 788 · see citing works
Björkman, M., & Svensson, J. (2009) · Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/qjec.2009.124.2.735 · Cited by 739 · see citing works
HAS DEMOCRATIZATION REDUCED INFANT MORTALITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA? EVIDENCE FROM MICRO DATA
Kudamatsu, M. (2012) · Journal of the European Economic Association · doi:10.1111/j.1542-4774.2012.01092.x · Cited by 373 · see citing works
Economic Causes of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: A Panel Data Analysis for the 2000s
Hargrave, J., & Kis-Katos, K. (2013) · Environmental and Resource Economics · doi:10.1007/s10640-012-9610-2 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
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Transparency and Trust in Government. Evidence from a Survey Experiment
Alessandro, M., Cardinale Lagomarsino, B., Scartascini, C., Streb, J., & Torrealday, J. (2021) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105223 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Lights on the shadows of public procurement: Transparency as an antidote to corruption
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Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership
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- Authors
- Ferraz, C., & Finan, F.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Venue
- Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-05
- Volume
- 123
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 703-745
- ISSN
- 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-4650
- OpenAlex
- W2143584325
- Cited by
- 1,319
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 69 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 90 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 103 · 2018: 103 · 2017: 67 · 2016: 81 · 2015: 87 · 2014: 77 · 2013: 72 · 2012: 64
- FWCI
- 118.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Corruption and Economic Development
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Keywords
- corruption disclosure, electoral accountability, anti-corruption policy, federal transfers to municipalities, local radio, local media, political selection, information disclosure, Brazil
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