Prior literature on municipal performance has provided inconclusive evidence on the effect of managerial factors on local government performance (da Cruz & Marques, 2013). Some have shown that weak municipal performance can be attributable to poor management (Balaguer et al. 2004), whereas others have found no difference in the performance of cities run by city managers compared to those run by elected mayors (Deno & Mehay, 1987). Moreover, the existing studies mainly focus on developed settings, leaving out local governments in developing countries, whose social, institutional, and environmental context differ considerably from their developed peers. In filling this gap, this work aims to identify further determinants of municipal performance in a developing country. We aim to contribute by exploring the social, institutional, environmental, and managerial factors that drive performance in a sample of all major-size Colombian municipalities for the period 2007-2015. Although preceding literature on Colombia has shown that mayoral quality has a positive effect on municipal performance, in terms of education policy (Avellaneda 2008) and public finance (Avellaneda 2009); the existing research has understudied the role that crime, internal conflict, corruption, and de jure vs de facto decentralization may have on local government performance. Local government performance will be assessed across several indicators. In sum, we want to build on that previous literature by exploring other factors that can explain why some municipalities in developing countries excel while others strive, even though they perform in similar contexts.
References
Avellaneda, C. (2008) Municipal Performance: Does Mayoral Quality Matter? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.19. 285-312.
Avellaneda, C. (2009) Mayoral Quality and Local Public Finance. (2009). Public Administration Review. 69:3. 469-486.
Balaguer, M., Prior, D. & Tortosa-Ausina, E, (2004) On the Determinants of Local Government Performance: A Two-State Nonparametric Approach. Working Paper 2004-04. Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas.
Da Cruz, N. & Marques, R. (2013) Revisiting the Determinants of Local Government Performance. Omega: The International Journal of Management Science.44. 91-103.
Deno, K. & Mehay, S. (1987) Municipal Management Structure and Fiscal Performance: Do City Managers Make a Difference? Southern Economic Journal. 53:3. 627-642.
