Political stability and fiscal policy time series evidence for the Swiss federal level since 1849

This paper explores the role of political stability on fiscal policy choices in a time-series analysis over 158 years on the Swiss federal level. We argue that the fiscal-commons problem of public finances is affected by the time-horizon of a finance minister. Arguably, the incentives for an incumbe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Feld, Lars P. (Author) , Schaltegger, Christoph A. (Author)
Format: Book/Monograph Working Paper
Language:English
Published: Munich Univ., Center for Economic Studies 2009
Series:CESifo working paper series Public finance 2691
In: CESifo working papers (2691)

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Author Notes:Lars P. Feld ; Christoph A. Schaltegger
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Summary:This paper explores the role of political stability on fiscal policy choices in a time-series analysis over 158 years on the Swiss federal level. We argue that the fiscal-commons problem of public finances is affected by the time-horizon of a finance minister. Arguably, the incentives for an incumbent to maintain a good reputation with sound policy decisions are stronger the longer the time-horizon of a respective term. In addition, a finance minister who succeeds to stay a long time in office normally enjoys a politically powerful position towards the parliament, the administration and the interest groups to influence policy decisions. In contrast, frequent government turnover weakens the position of the finance minister.
Item Description:Literaturverz. S. 27 - 30