A demand-based model of public sector spending is used to identify the economic determinants of the relative size of government in the United States for the period 1949 to 1998. The government's share of GDP is hypothesized to be a function of income growth (Wagner's Law), relative prices for...

Cross-sectional data are used to assess the effect of state-level economic conditions on state outcomes in the 1992 presidential election. The analysis provides evidence on the role of macroeconomic variables in models of national election outcomes and presents simulations to determine whether...

Recent legislation has reduced federal tax rates and provided for indexation of the personal income tax against inflation. These changes are in part designed to reduce the relative size of government in the U.S. economy. Testing assump tions behind this proposition, this article examines the...

Static and dynamic translog cost models for the aggregate U.S. state and local government sector are estimated for 1952 to 1985. Inputs are capital, labor, and a combined nondurable goods and other services input, which includes "privatized" services. Estimates show that capital and labor are...