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Studying the role of political competition in the evolution of government size over long horizons

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Author Info
Ferris, J. Stephen
Park, Soo-Bin
Winer, Stanley L. ()

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Abstract

We argue for the use of cointegration and error correction analysis as a method to combine economic factors that are nonstationary with political factors that are stationary into a dynamic, empirical model of the evolution of public policy over long periods. The approach we develop is applied to disentangle the contributions of economics and politics to the evolution of public expenditure by the Government of Canada over 130 years, from the origin of the modern state to the end of the 20th century. Political competition emerges robustly as the primary political factor affecting government size in the long run as well as over shorter horizons.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS in its series P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers with number 111.

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Length: 49 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2008
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Handle: RePEc:uca:ucapdv:111

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Related research
Keywords: political competition; conditional convergence; cointegration; public expenditure; size of government; politics versus economics;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Stanley Winer & Michael Tofias & Bernard Grofman & John Aldrich, 2008. "Trending economic factors and the structure of Congress in the growth of government, 1930–2002," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 415-448, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. J. Ferris, 2008. "Electoral politics and monetary policy: does the Bank of Canada contribute to a political business cycle?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 449-468, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Stephen Ferris & Marcel Voia, 2008. "What determines the length of a typical Canadian parliamentary government?," Carleton Economic Papers 08-06, Carleton University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. James B. Davies & Stanley L. Winer, 2008. "Closing the 49th Parallel: An Unexplored Episode in Canadian Economic and Political History," University of Western Ontario, RBC Financial Group Economic Policy Research Institute Working Papers 20083, University of Western Ontario, RBC Financial Group Economic Policy Research Institute. [Downloadable!]
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