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The Political Economy of Public Debt: A Laboratory Study

Author

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  • Battaglini, Marco
  • Nunnari, Salvatore
  • Palfrey, Thomas R
Abstract
This paper reports the results from a laboratory experiment designed to study political distortions in the accumulation of public debt. A legislature bargains over the levels of a public good and of district specific transfers in two periods. The legislature can issue or purchase risk-free bonds in the first period and the level of public debt creates a dynamic linkage across policymaking periods. In line with the theoretical predictions, we find that public policies are inefficient and efficiency is increasing in the size of the majority requirement, with higher investment in public goods and lower debt associated with larger majority requirements. Also in line with the theory, we find that debt is lower when the probability of a negative shock to the economy in the second period is higher, evidence that debt is used to smooth consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Battaglini, Marco & Nunnari, Salvatore & Palfrey, Thomas R, 2016. "The Political Economy of Public Debt: A Laboratory Study," CEPR Discussion Papers 11357, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11357
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    8. Battaglini, Marco & Nunnari, Salvatore & Palfrey, Thomas R., 2012. "Legislative Bargaining and the Dynamics of Public Investment," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(2), pages 407-429, May.
    9. Guillaume Fréchette & John Kagel & Massimo Morelli, 2012. "Pork versus public goods: an experimental study of public good provision within a legislative bargaining framework," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 49(3), pages 779-800, April.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marina Agranov & Christopher Cotton & Chloe Tergiman, 2016. "Persistence Of Power: Repeated Multilateral Bargaining," Working Paper 1374, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    3. Joao Tovar Jalles & Carlos Mulas‐Granados & José Tavares, 2021. "Fiscal discipline and exchange rates: Does politics matter?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(2), pages 155-178, May.
    4. Agranov, Marina & Cotton, Christopher & Tergiman, Chloe, 2020. "Persistence of power: Repeated multilateral bargaining with endogenous agenda setting authority," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    5. Roth, Christopher & Settele, Sonja & Wohlfart, Johannes, 2022. "Beliefs about public debt and the demand for government spending," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 165-187.
    6. Marco Catola & Pietro Guarnieri & Veronica Pizziol & Chiara Rapallini, 2023. "Measuring the attitude towards a European public budget: A cross-country experiment," Discussion Papers 2023/300, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    7. Agranov, Marina & Fréchette, Guillaume & Palfrey, Thomas & Vespa, Emanuel, 2016. "Static and dynamic underinvestment: An experimental investigation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 125-141.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public debt; Laboratory experiment;

    JEL classification:

    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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