IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/poleco/v92y2026ics0176268024001058.html

The impact of independent local parties on spending: Evidence from Dutch municipalities

Author

Listed:
  • Sebő, Marianna
  • Gradus, Raymond
  • Budding, Tjerk

Abstract

To what extent do independent local political parties make different decisions on municipal spending categories compared to their locally operating national counterparts? In this paper, we empirically analyze whether independent local parties affect public finances in Dutch municipalities. Using a matching strategy, we compare municipalities that are similar in their observable characteristics except for the presence of an independent local party majority in the municipal council. We provide evidence that municipalities with independent local majorities indeed differ in terms of local spending, specifically they spend more on categories of Local Public Administration, Public Health and Environment and Sport, Culture and Recreation which are arguably more locally oriented. Using a regression kink design, we find consistent results in spending when we look at the changes that take place once the majority share of the seats in the municipal council has been reached by independent local parties.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebő, Marianna & Gradus, Raymond & Budding, Tjerk, 2026. "The impact of independent local parties on spending: Evidence from Dutch municipalities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:92:y:2026:i:c:s0176268024001058
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102603
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176268024001058
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102603?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:92:y:2026:i:c:s0176268024001058. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505544 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.