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Fiscal Decentralization and Public Sector Employment: A Cross-Country Analysis

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Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between public sector employment and fiscal decentralization. We develop a theoretical framework modeling the interactions between the central and sub-national executives regarding the level of public employment at the central and sub-national government levels. In our empirical work, based on a large cross-country dataset, we find that, ceteris paribus, the level of total public sector employees in a country increases with its level of fiscal decentralization. Even though central government employment decreases with decentralization, this is more than fully offset by the increase in employment at the sub-national level accompanying decentralization. Our empirical results also indicate that the relationship between GDP per capita and public sector employment is not monotonic but quadratic, that total public sector employment is higher in unitary countries vis-à-vis federal countries, and that public employment increases with the country’s international economic openness.

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File URL: http://aysps.gsu.edu/isp/files/ispwp0903.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University in its series International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU with number paper0903.

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Length: 49 pages
Date of creation: 01 Mar 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0903

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Keywords: fiscal decentralization; public sector employment; public sector size;

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References

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  1. Alberto Alesina & Stephan Danninger & Massimo Rostagno, 1999. "Redistribution Through Public Employment: The Case of Italy," NBER Working Papers 7387, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Giertz, J Fred, 1983. "State-Local Centralization and Income: A Theoretical Framework and Further Empirical Results," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 38(3), pages 398-408.
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  5. Panizza, Ugo, 1999. "On the determinants of fiscal centralization: Theory and evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 97-139, October.
  6. Easterly, William & Baqir, Reza & Alesina, Alberto, 2000. "Redistributive Public Employment," Scholarly Articles 4553013, Harvard University Department of Economics.
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  8. Nelson, Michael A, 1987. "Searching for Leviathan: Comment and Extension," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(1), pages 198-204, March.
  9. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Robert McNab, 1997. "Fiscal Decentralization, Economic Growth, and Democratic Governance," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper9707, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
  10. Oates, Wallace E, 1985. "Searching for Leviathan: An Empirical Study," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 748-57, September.
  11. Jonathan A. Rodden & Gunnar S. Eskeland (ed.), 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262182297.
  12. Rama,Martin G., 1997. "Efficient public sector downsizing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1840, The World Bank.
  13. Richard M. Bird, 2000. "Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations: Universal Principles, Local Applications," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0002, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
  14. John Joseph Wallis & Wallace E. Oates, 1988. "Decentralization in the Public Sector: An Empirical Study of State and Local Government," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Federalism: Quantitative Studies, pages 5-32 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  15. Hammouya, Messaoud, 1999. "Statistics on public sector employment : methodology, structures and trends," ILO Working Papers 336246, International Labour Organization.
  16. Shelton, Cameron A., 2007. "The size and composition of government expenditure," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(11-12), pages 2230-2260, December.
  17. International Monetary Fund, 1995. "Employment and Wages in the Public Sector-A Cross-Country Study," IMF Working Papers 95/70, International Monetary Fund.
  18. Ebel, Robert D. & Yilmaz, Serdar, 2002. "On the measurement and impact of fiscal decentralization," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2809, The World Bank.
  19. José Manuel Marqués Sevillano & Joan Rosselló Villallonga, 2004. "Public employment and regional redistribution in Spain," Hacienda Pública Española, IEF, vol. 170(3), pages 59-80, september.
  20. Khemani, Stuti, 2004. "Political cycles in a developing economy: effect of elections in the Indian States," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 125-154, February.
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Cited by:
  1. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Juan Luis Gómez-Reino, 2011. "An International Perspective on the Determinants of Local Government Fragmentation," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1121, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
  2. Wu, Alfred M. & Lin, Mi, 2010. "Determinants of government size: Evidence from China," MPRA Paper 27089, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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