The Effect of MPs’ Legislative Behavior on Post-Parliamentary Careers

Some former legislators (MPs) take up attractive positions in private or public organizations immediately after the end of their parliamentary service. These ‘revolving door’ transitions are met with public concern: They create an image of MPs violating norms of public interest and using their time and efforts in parliament as a springboard. They also raise the question whether MPs’ behaviour during public service affects their post-parliamentary career chances. This paper analyses the relationship between MPs’ behavior in parliament and their occupations after the end of their parliamentary mandate. It is hypothesised that post-parliamentary careers are the outcome of MPs’ occupational backgrounds before their parliamentary mandate but also, importantly, MPs’ behaviour within parliament. The main research question is ‘What effect does parliamentary behaviour have on MPs’ post-parliamentary careers?’. The relationship between legislators’ behaviour in parliament and their immediate post-parliamentary careers is largely unexplored. While various studies analysed MPs’ pre-parliamentary lives and parliamentary behavior while being in office, post-parliamentary careers have received scant attention, and if so primarily in the USA and the European Parliament. Outside these contexts, only few case studies exist. The analysis is based on a new dataset with information on post-parliamentary careers of all former members of the Canadian House of Commons that left parliament since the 2000 Canadian federal election. The Canadian House of Commons represents a ‘least-likely case’ for the study of post-parliamentary careers due to its relatively strict regulations to guide legislators’ transitions. While several countries have adopted such regulations which aim to decrease transitions into positions that directly relate to legislative service, scholarly knowledge of how regulations affect the link between parliamentary behaviour and careers is lacking. Post-parliamentary occupations are classified using the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 08) and are categorised according to the specific areas of the economy they are situated in (‘sector’). It hypothesized that MPs who devoted more attention to a policy area in parliament have to higher chances for a post-parliamentary career in that area. Attention devoted to a policy area is measured via MPs’ speeches, parliamentary questions and their committee membership. All indicators are validated measures of MPs’ interests, specialisation and network. Paper proposed for panel 4) Parties’ and MPs’ legislative behaviour