Austerity and Elections /
Conventional wisdom holds that voters punish governments that implement fiscal austerity. Yet, most empirical studies, which rely on ex-post yearly austerity measures, do not find supportive evidence. This paper revisits the issue using action-based, real-time, ex-ante measures of fiscal austerity a...
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| Andere auteurs: | , , |
| Formaat: | Tijdschrift |
| Taal: | English |
| Gepubliceerd in: |
Washington, D.C. :
International Monetary Fund,
2021.
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| Reeks: | IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ;
No. 2021/121 |
| Onderwerpen: | |
| Online toegang: | Full text available on IMF |
| Samenvatting: | Conventional wisdom holds that voters punish governments that implement fiscal austerity. Yet, most empirical studies, which rely on ex-post yearly austerity measures, do not find supportive evidence. This paper revisits the issue using action-based, real-time, ex-ante measures of fiscal austerity as well as a new database of changes in vote shares of incumbent parties. The analysis emphasizes the importance of the 'how'-whether austerity is done via tax hikes or expenditure cuts-and the 'who'-whether it is carried out by left- vs. right-leaning governments. Our main finding is that tax-based austerity carries large electoral costs, while the effect of expenditure-based consolidations depends on the political-leaning of the government. An austerity package worth 1% of GDP, carried out mostly through tax hikes, reduces the vote share of the leader's party by about 7%. In contrast, expenditure-based austerity is detrimental for left- but beneficial for right-leaning governments. We also find that the electoral cost of austerity-especially tax hikes-can be contained if it is implemented during good economic times. |
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| Beschrijving item: | <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required |
| Fysieke beschrijving: | 1 online resource (70 pages) |
| Formaat: | Mode of access: Internet |
| ISSN: | 1018-5941 |
| Toegang: | Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students |