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Electoral Cycles, Budget Controls and Public Expenditure*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

James Alt  and
K. Alec Chrystal
James Alt
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Washington University in St Louis
K. Alec Chrystal
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Essex
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Abstract

This paper presents the results of tests of a number of models of public expenditure growth which have achieved wide currency. The main types of models examined are a permanent income model, electoral cycle models, and stabilization policy models. The models are tested with data from Britain and the United States of America and the results are compared with evidence from other countries. The paper concludes that government expenditure grows in proportion to national income because politicians find it convenient to plan that way; electoral-cyclical factors are relatively unimportant in determining public expenditure; there appears to be a limited role for public expenditure in economic stabilization policy; in a comparative context institutions of expenditure control are important in determining relative rates of growth of public sector consumption expenditure.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 37 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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