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How does democratization affect the composition of government expenditure?

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  • Kotera, Go
  • Okada, Keisuke
Abstract
This study examines the effects of democratization on the size and composition of government expenditure using the data of 125 countries between 1972 and 2010 at most. Specifically, we focus not only on the total expenditure but also on the composition, and we employ dichotomous indices of political regimes rather than score indices. Moreover, we construct instruments for democratization based on the democratization wave and conduct an instrumental variables estimation to address endogeneity problems. Our results show that while democratization does not have a significant impact on total expenditure, it increases expenditure on health. Democratization decreases expenditure on defense, although the result of the instrumental variables estimation is not significant. Furthermore, considering the time-varying effect of democratization, defense expenditure starts decreasing immediately after a regime change and health expenditure increases in the medium and long run, while they do not significantly vary before a regime change. Thus, while focusing only on total expenditure does not uncover the effects of democratization, considering detailed categories of government expenditure enables us to understand how democratization changes governments’ behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Kotera, Go & Okada, Keisuke, 2017. "How does democratization affect the composition of government expenditure?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 145-159.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:137:y:2017:i:c:p:145-159
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2017.03.004
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    4. Chen, Zhigang & Lv, Bingyang & Liu, Yongzheng, 2019. "Financial development and the composition of government expenditure: Theory and cross-country evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 600-611.
    5. Keisuke Okada & Sovannroeun Samreth, 2024. "Do Political Regimes Matter for Technology Diffusion?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 3409-3422, March.
    6. Sajjad F. Dizaji & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2023. "Democracy and Militarization in Developing Countries: A Panel Vector Autoregressive Analysis," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 272-292, April.
    7. Jean-Louis Combes & Alexandru Minea & Pegdéwendé Nestor Sawadogo, 2019. "Does the composition of government expenditures matter for sovereign bond spreads' evolution in developing countries?," Working Papers halshs-02019063, HAL.
    8. Okada, Keisuke, 2018. "Health and political regimes: Evidence from quantile regression," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 307-319.
    9. Sebastian Lazăr & Bogdan-Gabriel Zugravu & Adina Dornean, 2020. "Taxes for the People or for the Government? A Global Governance Perspective," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business (continues Analele Stiintifice), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 67(3), pages 389-407, September.
    10. Saganga Mussa Kapaya, 2024. "Financial development in Africa: Do expenditure and population matter? Evidence through pooled mean group and generalized method of moments estimators," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 728-750, January.
    11. Nazlı KEYİFLİ & Sacit Hadi AKDEDE, 2020. "Political Polarization and Size of Government," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 28(44).
    12. Okada, Keisuke & Shinkuma, Takayoshi, 2022. "Transparency and natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Democratization; Government behavior; Government expenditure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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