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Public Preferences for Government Spending Priorities: Survey Evidence from Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Hayo Bernd

    (Philipps-University Marburg,Marburg, Germany)

  • Neumeier Florian

    (Philipps-University Marburg,Marburg, Germany)

Abstract

Employing data from a representative survey conducted in Germany, this paper examines public preferences for the size and composition of government expenditure. We focus on public attitudes towards taxes, public debt incurrence and public spending in six different policy areas. Our findings suggest, first, that individual preferences for the use of additional tax money can be categorised as either capital-oriented expenditure or public debt reduction. Second, we find that fiscal preferences differ along various dimensions. Specifically, personal economic well-being, economic literacy, confidence in politicians, political ideology and time preference are significantly related to individual attitudes towards public spending, taxes and debt. The magnitude of the effects is particularly large for time preference, economic knowledge and party preference. Third, public preferences for public spending priorities are only marginally affected when considering a public budget constraint.

Suggested Citation

  • Hayo Bernd & Neumeier Florian, 2019. "Public Preferences for Government Spending Priorities: Survey Evidence from Germany," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 1-37, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:20:y:2019:i:4:p:e1-e37
    DOI: 10.1111/geer.12149
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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public spending; public preferences; public debt; taxes; survey; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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