DISTRIBÚCIA VEREJNÝCH ZDROJOV AKO NÁSTROJ MOBILIZÁCIE VOLEBNEJ PODPORY. PRÍPAD ALOKÁCIE HASIČSKEJ TECHNIKY NA SLOVENSKU

The research shows that political parties use public resources as a vote-buying mechanism. This paper analyses the distribution of fire engines to Slovak municipalities before 2016 election. We find that towns with mayors from the ruling party as well as municipalities where this party scored better in previous election were advantaged in the selection process. We also show that grants increase the electoral support of the ruling party and even more substantially they boost the share of votes of the government representative who personally directed the distribution. This positive effect is strongest in smaller municipalities and it weakens with rising town population.