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How sticky are local expenditures in Italy? Assessing the relevance of the flypaper effect through municipal data

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  • Elena Gennari
  • Giovanna Messina

Abstract

An extensive literature analysed the impact of upper tier transfers on spending behaviour of lower level governments finding evidence of a flypaper effect, an overreaction to varying grants from upper tiers. Our work seeks to supplement a dearth of evidence for the Italian case by focusing on the responsiveness of municipal expenditures to State grants. We use a panel of almost 8,000 municipalities from 1999 to 2006. Budget data are matched with several other information sources, enabling us to investigate also the role played by some important political factors like the electoral cycle or the political strength of local cabinets. Application of panel data techniques with the use of instrumental variables and a dynamic setting highlights the presence of a sizeable flypaper effect and a significant role for political variables while the asymmetric response is not confirmed in all specifications. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Elena Gennari & Giovanna Messina, 2014. "How sticky are local expenditures in Italy? Assessing the relevance of the flypaper effect through municipal data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(2), pages 324-344, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:21:y:2014:i:2:p:324-344
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-013-9269-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Luigi Marattin & Tommaso Nannicini & Francesco Porcelli, 2022. "Revenue vs expenditure based fiscal consolidation: the pass-through from federal cuts to local taxes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(4), pages 834-872, August.
    2. Kaur, Amandeep & Mohanty, Ranjan & Chakraborty, Lekha S & Rangan, Divy, 2021. "Ecological Fiscal Transfers and State-level Budgetary Spending in India: Analysing The Flypaper Effects," MPRA Paper 111947, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Chang Liu & Guangrong Ma, 2016. "Taxation without representation: local fiscal response to intergovernmental transfers in China," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(5), pages 854-874, October.
    4. Becker, Johannes & Hopp, Daniel & Kriebel, Michael, 2020. "Mental accounting of public funds – The flypaper effect in the lab," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 321-336.
    5. Giuliano Masiero & Michael Santarossa, 2019. "Earthquakes, grants and public expenditure: how municipalities respond to natural disasters," IdEP Economic Papers 1901, USI Università della Svizzera italiana.
    6. Cassidy, Traviss, 2017. "How Forward-Looking Are Local Governments? Evidence from Indonesia," MPRA Paper 97776, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jun 2019.
    7. Vicente Rios & Miriam Hortas-Rico & Pedro Pascual, 2022. "What shapes the flypaper effect? The role of the political environment in the budget process," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 793-820, September.
    8. Lela Nurlaela & Heri Ispriyadi & Dhika Habibi Zakaira, 2022. "The flypaper effect phenomenon of intergovernmental transfers during the Covid-19:Evidence from Indonesia," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 40(2), pages 353-373.
    9. Chiades, Paolo & Greco, Luciano & Mengotto, Vanni & Moretti, Luigi & Valbonesi, Paola, 2019. "Fiscal consolidation by intergovernmental transfers cuts? The unpleasant effect on expenditure arrears," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 266-275.
    10. Giuliano Masiero & Michael Santarossa, 2020. "Earthquakes, grants, and public expenditure: How municipalities respond to natural disasters," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 481-516, June.
    11. Manuel E. Lago & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2022. "On the effects of intergovernmental grants: a survey," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 2204, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    12. Leonel Muinelo-Gallo, 2021. "Testing regional intergovernmental transfers effects in Uruguay," Sobre México. Revista de Economía, Sobre México. Temas en economía, vol. 2(4), pages 6-38.
    13. Cassidy, Traviss, 2017. "Revenue Persistence and Public Service Delivery," MPRA Paper 114464, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Sep 2022.
    14. Miriam Hortas-Rico & Vicente Rios & Pedro Pascual, 2020. "What shapes the flypaper effect? The role of the political environment in the budget process," Working Papers. Collection B: Regional and sectoral economics 2001, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    15. Antti Saastamoinen & Mika Kortelainen, 2020. "When Does Money Stick in Education? Evidence from A Kinked Grant Rule," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 708-735, Fall.
    16. Muinelo-Gallo, Leonel & Azar, Paola, 2018. "Testing regional intergovernmental transfers asymmetries in Uruguay," MPRA Paper 90245, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Sangsoo Lim & Sanghoon Lee & Pilhyun Kim, 2017. "Asymmetry in the fly-paper effect of the national subsidy in Korea," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 560-574, October.
    18. Dalle Nogare, Chiara & Kauder, Björn, 2017. "Term limits for mayors and intergovernmental grants: Evidence from Italian cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-11.
    19. Stuhler, Jan & Helm, Ines, 2021. "The Dynamic Response of Municipal Budgets to Revenue Shocks," CEPR Discussion Papers 16137, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Chalil, Tengku Munawar, 2018. "The Size of Flypaper Effect in Decentralizing Indonesia," MPRA Paper 88037, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Kaur, Amandeep & Mohanty, Ranjan Kumar & Chakraborty, Lekha & Rangan, Divy, 2021. "Ecological Fiscal Transfers and State-level Budgetary Spending in India: Analysing The Flypaper Effects in India," Working Papers 21/332, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    22. Paolo Chiades & Luciano Greco & Vanni Menegotto & Luigi Moretti & Paola Valbonesi, 2015. "Fiscal Consolidation and Expenditure Arrears: Evidence from Local Governments’ Investments," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0197, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Flypaper effect; Intergovernmental transfers; Fiscal federalism; D72; H30; H72; H77;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

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