2025/10/15 by Thomas Karv, Fredrik Malmberg, Inga Saikkonen · 1 voice
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Corporate Finance and Governance #Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies
paper · doi:10.1080/00344893.2025.2566812
openalex publication_date 2025/10/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/16 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Multiple-mandate holding (MMH), i.e. the simultaneous exercise of at least two directly elected political functions, is a widespread but controversial political practice. Theoretically it can be argued to constitute a valuable personal vote earning attribute (PVEA) among candidates due to its’ combination of the incumbency and local background traits, but previous scholarship has also shown that citizens tend to be quite critical towards it. However, whether and how the practice of MMH affects voter preferences has not been previously empirically explored. The purpose of this study is thus to contribute to this line of research by exploring the potential causal impact of the practice of MMH, making a valuable empirical contribution to scholarships of voter preferences and candidate traits. We examine this question by utilising a conjoint survey experiment carried out in 2023 in Finland, a country that recently (in 2022) established a new regional government tier, thereby enabling the possibility for politicians of being simultaneously elected at three different institutional levels. The results of the study confirm that MMH as a candidate trait has the potential to be disadvantageous for individual candidates during elections.