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Cost Disease versus Leviathan Explanations of Rising Government Cost: An Empirical Investigation

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  • Ferris, J Stephen
  • West, Edwin G

Abstract

In this paper, the authors reexamine the apparently conflicting empirics of Borcherding et al. (1977) versus those of Barry and Lowery (1984). The latter, designed to test the cost disease versus bureau voting power hypotheses on U.S. Citibase annual data between 1947 to 1979, was retested for the longer period available through 1989. Second, and more importantly, they isolate and test for the presence of a second channel for the exercise of bureaucratic power. That channel is the bureau's ability to use its information advantage to capture a portion of newly generated government rents through higher personal benefits (such as higher salaries). Such an analysis (following West, 1991) requires first that those factors generating new rents for government actually result in successful bureaucratic rent-seeking in the form of higher compensation levels. In addition, the analysis requires that these 'artificial' increases in bureaucratic wages show up as significant determinants of the higher cost of providing government services. Incorporating a constructed Kau/Rubin variable into the Barry and Lowery database is then shown to improve the predictive power of both the cost disease and bureaucratic power hypotheses for U.S. annual data between 1948 and 1989. Copyright 1999 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

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  • Ferris, J Stephen & West, Edwin G, 1999. "Cost Disease versus Leviathan Explanations of Rising Government Cost: An Empirical Investigation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 98(3-4), pages 307-316, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:98:y:1999:i:3-4:p:307-16
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    Cited by:

    1. Stenkula Mikael, 2014. "Swedish Taxation in a 150-year Perspective," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2014(2), pages 10-42, November.
    2. Steven Gordon & John Garen & J. R. Clark, 2019. "The growth of government, trust in government, and evidence on their coevolution," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 43(3), pages 456-480, July.
    3. François Facchini & Mickael Melki & Andrew Pickering, 2017. "Labour Costs and the Size of Government," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(2), pages 251-275, April.
    4. Rashidul Islam Sheikh, 2019. "Analysis of the Determinants of Public Education Expenditures in Bangladesh," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(3), pages 151-178, December.
    5. Francois Facchini, 2018. "What Are the Determinants of Public Spending? An Overview of the Literature," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 46(4), pages 419-439, December.
    6. Thomas A. Garrett & Russell M. Rhine, 2006. "On the size and growth of government," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 88(Jan), pages 13-30.
    7. François Facchini & Mickael Melki & Andrew Pickering, 2013. "The Labor Share and the Size of Government," Discussion Papers 13/02, Department of Economics, University of York.
    8. Henrekson, Magnus & Stenkula, Mikael, 2015. "Swedish Taxation since 1862: An Overview," Working Paper Series 1052, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 10 Sep 2015.
    9. Laurie J. Bates & Rexford E. Santerre, 2015. "Does Baumol's Cost Disease Account for Nonfederal Public-Sector Cost Growth in the United States? A New Test of an Old Idea," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(1), pages 251-260, March.
    10. Agata Szymańska, 2021. "Determinants of General Government Social Spending: Evidence from the Eurozone," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 4, pages 508-528.
    11. Milad Zarin-Nejadan, 2011. "Government and Growth," IRENE Working Papers 11-02, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.

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