VEM VÄLJER VINSTEN? Påverkar den politiska färgen på det kommunala styret hur mycket vinst som förs över från de kommunala bostadsbolagen?

Abstract

Every year, Swedish municipalities transfer considerable amounts of profit from public housing companies to the owner municipality. Municipalities are allowed to do this, provided that the money is used to pay for certain purposes. But there are no legal repercussions if they do not comply. Not all municipalities choose to transfer profits. Based on partisan theory, this difference could be explained by the political governance of the municipality. This study therefore examines the question: does the political governance of the municipality affect how much profit is transferred from the municipal housing companies to the municipality? I test the hypotheses that municipalities with left-wing governments transfer less profit than municipalities with mixed governments, and municipalities with center-right governments transfer more than municipalities with mixed governments. I also test whether a left government is less likely than a mixed government to transfer profit, and if a center-right government is more likely than a mixed government to transfer profit. I examine the hypotheses with data from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning and the public housing companies' own annual reports. I analyze the data with a multiple regression analysis with categorical variables, as well as a linear probability model. The results from the regression analysis display a difference, in line with the hypotheses, however not statistically significant. The results from the linear probability analysis are also in line with the hypotheses, but when controlled for other factors the statistical significance disappears.