Business Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2014
Abstract
Members of Parliament (MPs) face strong incentives to vote along party lines. MP dissent, even though it generally does not alter legislative outcomes, may provide a mechanism for MPs to build reputations with local constituents. Using all 32,216 observations at the MP-bill-vote level for the 39th Parliament of Canada, I demonstrate that, after accommodating for selection on unobservables, MPs whose previous election was competitive are 13 percent more likely to dissent and 2.3 percent more likely to defect on any given vote. These results suggest that reputation and local political conditions matter more than previously believed.
