caa a22 4500 606168222 CHVBK 20210128105227.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11127-014-0184-0 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11127-014-0184-0 Braendle Thomas Federal Department of Finance (FFA), University of Basel, Faculty of Business and Economics, Bundesgasse 3, 3003, Berne, Switzerland aut Does remuneration affect the discipline and the selection of politicians? Evidence from pay harmonization in the European Parliament [Elektronische Daten] [Thomas Braendle] We study the harmonization of the base pay for the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Prior to this reform, implemented in 2009, base pay was aligned with that of national parliamentarians, causing large differences in pay between the MEPs representing 27 member states. Based on detailed information on individual MEPs between 2004 and 2011, we find that the reform, which introduced an exceptional base pay increase of 200% per national delegation on average, has a positive incentive effect on in-office effort proxied by the number of speeches, written declarations and reports drafted. However, more generous remuneration is associated with higher rates of absenteeism. With respect to political selection, we find that higher pay also raises reelection rates. The composition of the pool of MEPs in terms of (ex-ante) quality approximated by formal education, previous political experience in elected office and occupational background is, however, unaffected. If we restrict our attention to newly elected MEPs, a salary increase is related to fewer MEPs with previous political experience at the highest national level. Springer Science+Business Media New York, 2014 Political selection nationallicence Remuneration of politicians nationallicence Electoral system nationallicence European Parliament nationallicence Public Choice Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 162/1-2(2015-01-01), 1-24 0048-5829 162:1-2<1 2015 162 11127 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-014-0184-0 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/s11127-014-0184-0 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Braendle Thomas Federal Department of Finance (FFA), University of Basel, Faculty of Business and Economics, Bundesgasse 3, 3003, Berne, Switzerland aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Public Choice Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 162/1-2(2015-01-01), 1-24 0048-5829 162:1-2<1 2015 162 11127 SWISSBIB 574383050