caa a22 4500 606168133 CHVBK 20210128100705.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11127-014-0187-x doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11127-014-0187-x Is there a local knowledge advantage in federations? Evidence from a natural experiment [Elektronische Daten] [André Schultz, Alexander Libman] In economics, the local knowledge advantage is arguably one of the key arguments in favor of decentralizing the public sector. However, empirical investigations of this particular effect have been scarce. This paper tests the existence of the local knowledge advantage in a real-world setting. Specifically, it looks at the variation in local knowledge across regions based on the origins and careers of regional politicians, assuming that politicians who have spent more time in a particular region possess more and better knowledge of that region than outsiders. To avoid the reverse causality problem, the paper investigates how local origins affected the performances of politicians in a ‘natural experimental' environment, studying the responses of regional governors in Russia to disastrous forest fires in 2010. We confirm that local knowledge improves gubernatorial performance. In a highly centralized federation such as Russia, though, the effect is dependent on access to federal resources obtainable through close ties to the federal center. We also discuss alternative interpretations of the local origins of politicians and test whether the effects found are indeed more plausibly explained by local knowledge. Springer Science+Business Media New York, 2014 Decentralization nationallicence Local knowledge nationallicence Federal connections nationallicence Exogenous shocks nationallicence Russian regions nationallicence Schultz André Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Sonnemannstrasse 9-11, 60314, Frankfurt am Main, Germany aut Libman Alexander Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Sonnemannstrasse 9-11, 60314, Frankfurt am Main, Germany aut Public Choice Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 162/1-2(2015-01-01), 25-42 0048-5829 162:1-2<25 2015 162 11127 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-014-0187-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-014-0187-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Schultz André Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Sonnemannstrasse 9-11, 60314, Frankfurt am Main, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Libman Alexander Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Sonnemannstrasse 9-11, 60314, Frankfurt am Main, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Public Choice Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 162/1-2(2015-01-01), 25-42 0048-5829 162:1-2<25 2015 162 11127