Zhang Kezhong, Ma Tingyu, Wan Xin
School of Public Finance and Taxation, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, PR China.
Institute of Income Distribution and Public Finance, School of Public Finance and Taxation, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, No. 182 Nanhu Avenue, Wuhan, Hubei Province, PR China. 430073.
Heliyon. 2023 Apr 24;9(5):e15722. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15722. eCollection 2023 May.
Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHr) has been widely proven to exert a lasting influence on shaping behavior. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on the relationship between the fWHr level of bureaucrats and local government debt performance and attempt to discuss the demographic differences in explaining the fWHr-behavior link. We manually collected the fWHr data of local bureaucrats and used prefecture-level panel data of China from 2006 to 2015. The results show that the fWHr levels of bureaucrats are highly correlated with local government debt-bureaucrats with higher fWHr tend to issue more debt and expand the local debt substantially. Results of heterogeneity analysis suggest that the level of fWHr is gender-related-male bureaucrats tend to issue more debt. In addition, bureaucrats who have higher fWHr and who also hold higher education degrees are more inclined to issue debt. In this paper, we concentrate on the Chinese bureaucrat group and provide new micro-evidence on fWHr-related behavior from the perspective of local debt.
面部宽高比（fWHr）已被广泛证明对塑造行为有着持久影响。在本文中，我们提供了关于官员面部宽高比水平与地方政府债务表现之间关系的实证证据，并试图探讨在解释面部宽高比与行为之间联系方面的人口统计学差异。我们手动收集了地方官员的面部宽高比数据，并使用了中国2006年至2015年的地级市面板数据。结果表明，官员的面部宽高比水平与地方政府债务高度相关——面部宽高比越高的官员往往发行更多债务，并大幅扩大地方债务规模。异质性分析结果表明，面部宽高比水平与性别有关——男性官员往往发行更多债务。此外，面部宽高比高且拥有更高学历的官员更倾向于发行债务。在本文中，我们聚焦于中国官员群体，并从地方债务的角度为与面部宽高比相关的行为提供了新的微观证据。
