More political representation, more economic development? Evidence from Turkey

I investigate the effect of political representation on local economic development, as measured by nighttime light intensity (NTLI), in Turkey between 1996 and 2013 (i.e., between legislative term 20 and 24). Parliamentary seats are apportioned by a rule that generates randomness in the extent of provincial representation in the Turkish Parliament. By exploiting that exogenous variation, I estimate the impact of one additional Member of Parliament (MP) representing a province on that province’s economic growth. Specifically, I show that an extra MP increases the NTLI of her province by 1% in a given year, which corresponds to an annual increase of 0.095% in real GDP. The increase likely is driven by MPs who are members of the government party. By investigating the mechanisms, I find that additional provincial representation increases the number of discussions of that particular province in public parliamentary meetings, as well as the funds allocated to that province. Taken together, my results suggest that some of Turkey’s regional economic growth is associated with legislative representation.