Political polarization and the size of government

Arbeitspapier

We study the effect of political polarization on public spending using the dispersion of self-reported political preferences as our measure of polarization. Political polarization is strongly associated with smaller government in democratic countries, but there is no relationship between polarization and the size of government in undemocratic countries. The results are robust to a large set of control variables, including GDP per capita and income inequality.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance ; No. 628

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Structure and Scope of Government: General ; Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General ; Public Goods
• Subject: Political polarization ; social cohesion ; size of government ; redistribution ; Sozialer Indikator ; Regierung ; Wirtschaftslage ; Vertrauen ; Welt ; Soziale Beziehungen

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Lindqvist, Erik ; Östling, Robert
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Stockholm School of Economics, The Economic Research Institute (EFI)
• (where): Stockholm
• (when): 2006

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56254
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET