This paper attempts to evaluate public sector expenditure efficiency comparing Brazil with other Latin American countries for the period 1998-2002. We first computed a composite index, comprising economic and social indicators, to measure public sector performance. Efficiency of expenditure was...

Who becomes a top politician in China? We focus on provincial leaders - a pool of candidates for top political office - and examine how their chances of promotion depend on their performance in office and connections with top politicians. Our empirical analysis, based on the curriculum vitae of...

In diesem Bericht werden die Zwischenergebnisse der Begleitforschung 2012 bis 2013 zum Modellvorhaben LandZukunft des Bundesministeriums für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (BMEL) vorgestellt. Das Modellvorhaben läuft von 2012 bis Ende 2014 in vier aus ursprünglich 17 Landkreisen ausgewählten...

Previous studies of policy responses to economic crises argue that crises may lead to more interventionist policy but also cause deregulation. The empirical evidence in previous studies is equally mixed. The present paper argues that whether or not governments implement more or less...

Transparency of public management is fundamental to bringing citizens closer to public managers and as such universally considered an element of good governance. The main aim of this study is to identify the factors determining transparency in public management of Portuguese local authorities....

In the developing world, clientelism is common. In Africa, public office is often used to redistribute resources to ethnically defined constituencies, and this form of clientelistic exchange is a key determinant of vote choice. Does clientelistic exchange shape trust in elected officials as...

This study empirically investigates the transposition patterns of EU directives in all 15 member states and in six major sectors of the economy with a view on analysing the political-economic reasons behind sector and national differences in the legal transposition instruments used. In...

In their role as agenda setters and implementers of political decisions, bureaucrats potentially have the power to influence decisions in their own favor. It is however difficult to empirically test whether bureaucrats actually are involved in such actions. In this paper we suggest and apply a...

States have soft budget constraints when they can expect a bailout by the federal government in the event of a financial crisis. This gives rise to incentives for unsound state fiscal policy. We test whether states with softer budget constraints have higher debt and deficits, receive more...

In their role as agenda setters and implementers of political decisions, bureaucrats potentially have the power to influence decisions in their own favor. It is however difficult to empirically test whether bureaucrats actually are involved in such actions. In this paper we suggest and apply a...