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Political Polarization and the Size of Government

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Author Info
Lindqvist, Erik () (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))
Östling, Robert () (Stockholm School of Economics)

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Abstract

We study the effect of political polarization on government spending and redistribution using the dispersion of self-reported political preferences as our measure of polarization. Politically polarized countries have lower levels of redistribution and government consumption. The relationship between political polarization and the size of government is stronger in democratic countries, indicating that the effect goes through the political system. The results are robust to a large set of controlvariables, including GDP per capita and income inequality.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Research Institute of Industrial Economics in its series Working Paper Series with number 749.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: 15 May 2008
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Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0749

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Related research
Keywords: Political Polarization; Social Cohesion; Ethnic Fractionalization; Social Capital; Size of Government;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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References listed on IDEAS
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    • Wacziarg, Romain & Alesina, Alberto & Devleeschauwer, Arnaud & Easterly, William & Kurlat, Sergio, 2002. "Fractionalization," Research Papers 1744, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Alberto Alesina & Edward Glaeser & Bruce Sacerdote, 2001. "Why Doesn't the United States Have a European-Style Welfare State?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 32(2001-2), pages 187-278. [Downloadable!]
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