Does the size of the legislature affect the size of government? Evidence from two natural experiments

Journal of Public Economics

Volumn 96, Issue 3-4, 2012, Pages 269-278

  Pettersson Lidbom, Per ^a  

^a STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY   (Sweden)

Author keywords

Distributive politics; Government spending; Legislative policy making; Legislature size; Panel data; Regression discontinuity design

Indexed keywords

EID: 84255178679     PISSN: 00472727     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2011.07.004     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Acemoglu D. Constitutions, politics, and economics: a review essay on Persson and Tabellini's The Economic Effects of Constitutions. Journal of Economic Literature 2005, 43:1025-1048.
2. Angrist J. Grouped data estimation and testing in simple labor supply models. Journal of Econometrics 1991, 47:243-266.
3. Angrist J., Imbens, G., 1991. Sources of Identifying Variation in Evaluation Models, NBER Technical working paper, No 115.
4. Angrist Joshua D., Pischke Jörn-Steffen Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion 2009, Princeton University Press.
5. Baqir R. Districting and government overspending. Journal of Political Economy 2002, 110:1318-1354.
6. Bertrand M., Duflo E., Mullainathan S. How much should We trust difference-in-differences estimates. Quarterly Journal of Economics 2004, 119:249-275.
7. Besley T., Case A. Does electoral accountability affect economic policy choices? Evidence from gubernatorial term limits. Quarterly Journal of Economics 1995, 110:769-798.
8. Besley T., Case A. Political institutions and policy choices: empirical evidence from the United States. Journal of Economic Literature 2003, 41:7-73.
9. Bordignon, M., Nannicini, T., Tabellini,G., 2009. Moderating Political Extremism: Single Round vs Runoff Elections under Plurality Rule. Mimeo, Bocconi University.
10. Bradbury C., Crain M. Legislative organization and government spending: cross-country evidence. Journal of Public Economics 2001, 82:309-325.
11. Brollo, F., Nannicini, T., Perotti, R., and G. Tabellini (2009), "The Political Resource Curse", mimeo, Bocconi University.
12. Bruhn Miriam, McKenzie David In pursuit of balance: randomization in practice in development field experiments. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2009, 1(4):200-232.
13. Chamon M., de Mello J.M.P., Firpo S. "Electoral Rules, Political Competition and Fiscal Spending: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Brazilian Municipalities," Discussion Paper 559 2008, PUC-Rio.
14. Ferraz C., Finan F. "Motivating Politicians: The Impacts of Monetary Incentives on Quality and Performance," NBER Working Paper No. 14906 2009.
15. Fujiwara, T. (2008), "A regression discontinuity test of strategic voting and Duverger's Law," Mimeo, University of British Columbia.
16. Fujiwara, T. (2010), "Voting technology, political responsiveness, and infant health: evidence from Brazil," Mimeo, University of British Columbia.
17. Gagliarducci S., Nannicini T. "Do Better Paid Politicians Perform Better? Disentangling Incentives from Selection," IZA Working paper no. 4400 2009.
18. Gagliarducci S., Nannicini T., Naticchioni P. "Electoral Rules and Politicians' Behavior: A Micro Test," IZA Working Paper No. 3348 2008.
19. Gilligan T., Matsusaka J. Deviations from constituent interest: the role of legislative structure and political parties in the states. Economic Inquiry 1995, 33:383-401.
20. Gilligan T., Matsusaka J. Fiscal policy, legislature size, and political parties: evidence from state and local governments in the first half of the 20th century. National Tax Journal 2001, 35:57-82.
21. Hahn J., Todd P., Van der Klaauw W. Identification and estimation of treatment effects with a regression-discontinuity design. Econometrica 2001, 69:201-209.
22. Lee D. Randomized experiments from non-random selection in U.S. House elections. Journal of Econometrics 2008, 142:675-697.
23. Litschig, Stephan and K. Morrison (2009), "Electoral effects of fiscal transfers: quasi-experimental evidence from local executive elections in Brazil, 1982-1988", Mimeo, Columbia University.
24. MacDonald L. The impact of government structure on local public expenditures. Public Choice 2008, 136:457-473.
25. Moisio A. "Determinants of Expenditure Variation in Finnish Municipalities", VATT-Discussion paper 269 2002, Government Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki.
26. Niskanen A. Bureaucracy and Representative Government 1971, Aldine-Atherton, New York.
27. Peltzman S. Voters as fiscal conservatives. Quarterly Journal of Economics 1992, 107(2):327-361.
28. Perotti R., Kontopoulos Y. Fragmented fiscal policy. Journal of Public Economics 2002, 86:191-222.
29. Persson, T., Tabellini, G., 2000. Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy, Cambridge: MIT Press.
30. Pettersson-Lidbom, P (2001a), "Do parties matter for fiscal policy choices? A regression-discontinuity approach," Mimeo, Stockholm University.
31. Pettersson-Lidbom, P (2001b), "Does the size of the legislature affect the size of government? Evidence from a natural experiment," Mimeo, Harvard University.
32. Pettersson-Lidbom "Does the size of the legislature affect the size of government? Evidence from two natural experiments," VATT-Discussion paper 350 2004, Government Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki.
33. Pettersson-Lidbom P. Do parties matter for economic policy outcomes? A regression-discontinuity approach. Journal of the European Economic Association 2008, 6(5):1037-1056.
34. Primo D., Snyder J. Distributive politics and the law of 1/n. Journal of Politics 2008, 70(2):477-486.
35. Staiger D., Stock J.H. Instrumental variable regression with weak instruments. Econometrica 1997, 65(5):557-586. May.
36. Stock, J., Watson, M., 2007. Introduction to Econometrics, Addison Wesley and Longman. Amsterdam.
37. Ting, M., (2010), "Legislatures, Bureaucracies and Distributive Spending," mimeo. Columbia University.
38. Weingast B., Moran M.J. Bureaucratic discretion or congressional control? Regulatory policymaking by the federal trade commission. Journal of Political Economy 1983, 91:765-800.
39. Weingast B., Shepsle K., Johnsen C. The political economy of benefits and costs; a neoclassical approach to distributive politics. Journal of Political Economy 1981, 89:642-664.