Did Federal Politicians Give Themselves Post Rather than Pre-Election Pay Increases for Tactical Reasons?

In the knowledge that many citizens are critical about pay increases, it would seem likely that members of parliament give themselves pay increases directly after elections, rather than just before them. Drawing on data for 15 German Länder over the period of 1980 - 2014, a new study by the ifo Institute examines whether such an election cycle does indeed exist with regard to pay increases for German state parliament members. Its findings do not point to such an election cycle. Voters presumably hold politicians from all parties responsible for wage increases, and not merely politicians from incumbent parties in power.