Political institutions and public expenditure: assessing the brazilian subnational governments

New Post-Doctoral Position Search

The Center for Economics and Politics of the Public Sector – CEPESP at the Getulio Vargas Foundation – FGV is searching for candidates for a postdoctoral position to investigate the spatial determinants of electoral results in Brazil. This search is attached to a thematic research project entitled “Political Institutions and Public Expenditure: An Assessment of the Brazilian States” funded by the Sao Paulo Research Agency – FAPESP.

The recent decline in Brazilian electoral volatility, even at municipal levels, begs the question about the territorial distribution of parties’ electoral support. Moreover, other research showed an unsuspected ability of Brazilian parties to transfer votes across different types of elections (local, state and national). This last issue also raises questions about territorial characteristics of party organization and the type of stable linkages parties would be able to establish with certain groups of voters. In sum, the greater institutionalization of the electoral competition would imply that electoral results are spatially related; that is, the probability of two voters randomly chosen in a certain district have similar partisan preferences would be negatively related to the distance between them.

Research on the influence of territorial aspects on both those questions requires new analytical strategies. The uneven spatial distribution of the population according to socioeconomic characteristics and public investments are key variable to understand the electoral performance of parties and candidates in state wide elections. This proposal searches for applications able fulfill the gaps mentioned above. More specifically, we are looking for applicants able to propose and apply spatial analysis and geostatistics tools to further our understanding on both parties’ organization and electoral results at subnational levels. The researcher will be responsible for assembling a georeferenced dataset containing the electoral results for the period between 1994 and 2010 in a Geographical Information System (GIS) and integrate it with complementary socioeconomic data.

The successful candidate is expected to participate in all aspects of this investigation under the supervision of Professors Ciro Biderman (ciro.biderman@fgv.br) and George Avelino (george.avelino@fgv.br). Specific task will include writing reports, preparing datasets, attending workshops/conferences, and assisting with the preparation of manuscripts publications. The FAPESP post-doc fellowship runs for 12 consecutive months, with a monthly payment of R$ 6.143,40 Reais (free of tax) and, eventually, can be renewed until it reaches a total limit of 48 months.

Interested applicants should send a cover letter clearly stating a preliminary proposal and the curriculum vitae to CEPESP, Rua Itapeva, 286 – 10º andar, São Paulo, SP 01332-000. Applications could also be sent by e-mail to Prof. George Avelino (george.avelino@fgv.br). The application deadline is September 30, 2014. The selected candidates will be eventually interviewed personally or electronically.