Political-electoral aspects and the financial resilience of Brazilian local governments: perspectives during the pandemic crisis

ABSTRACT

Objective: We examined whether the financial resilience of Brazilian local governments (LGs) was affected by political-electoral aspects during the Covid-19 pandemic.Method: We used a mean comparison with secondary data on the finances and political field information of 621 LGs in Brazil between the years 2017 and 2020.Originality/Relevance This is the first study to examine the influence of political-electoral aspects on financial resilience capacity in LGs. Results: Our findings indicate that the partisan alignment and the ideological position between mayors and the Brazilian president, also the electoral mandate, are the main reasons that support or reduce the capacity of these LGs to cope with shocks and crises. Theoretical/Methodological contributions Our paper make a double contribution to the financial resilience literature exploring a different aspect that shapes this capacity, and examining how LGs in an underdeveloped country coped with the crisis generated by the pandemic.Social/Management contributions With the particular interest of society at large, our results may be useful to help identify the position, preparedness, and role of LGs managers in times of crisis.