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Public debt rule breaking by time-inconsistent voters

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  • Arawatari, Ryo
  • Ono, Tetsuo

Abstract

This study considers how present-biased preferences influence public debt policy when a violation of debt rules is possible. To address this issue, the study extends the framework of Bisin, Lizzeri, and Yariv (American Economic Review 105, (2015), 1711--1737) by allowing for rule breaking with extra costs, and we show that rule breaking occurs when a country exhibits a strong present bias. We further extend the model by introducing a political process for determining the debt rule, and we show that a polarization of debt rules emerges between countries with high and low degrees of present bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Arawatari, Ryo & Ono, Tetsuo, 2019. "Public debt rule breaking by time-inconsistent voters," MPRA Paper 96589, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:96589
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    Cited by:

    1. Arawatari, Ryo & Ono, Tetsuo, 2021. "Public debt rule breaking by time-inconsistent voters," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Ryo Arawatari & Tetsuo Ono, 2023. "International coordination of debt rules with time‐inconsistent voters," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(1), pages 29-60, February.
    3. RYO ARAWATARI & Tetsuo Ono, 2024. "Optimal Fiscal Spending and Deviation Rules under Political Uncertainty," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 24-03, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt ceilings; Present bias; Public debt.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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