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Theorizing About the Growth of Government: A Research Assessment

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  • Larkey, Patrick D.
  • Stolp, Chandler
  • Winer, Mark

Abstract

This paper surveys literature from several disciplines on how and why governments grow. The empirical question as to whether, or to what degree, government has grown is critically entwined with the nature of the ‘dependent variable’ chosen (federal government expenditures as a proportion of GNP, total real public expenditures, number of government employees as a percentage of the workforce, etc.). Specific approaches to the study of government growth considered include those associated with: Wagner's ‘Law’, the ‘Displacement Effect Hypothesis’, formal models of political and economic behavior, behavioral views of organizational decision making, the ineffectiveness of the public sector in coping with economic decline, and Marxist views.

Suggested Citation

  • Larkey, Patrick D. & Stolp, Chandler & Winer, Mark, 1981. "Theorizing About the Growth of Government: A Research Assessment," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 157-220, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jnlpup:v:1:y:1981:i:02:p:157-220_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Bordo & Daniel Landau, 1987. "The growth of government: A protection explanation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 167-174, January.
    2. Guarini, Giulio & Laureti, Tiziana & Garofalo, Giuseppe, 2020. "Socio-institutional determinants of educational resource efficiency according to the capability approach: An endogenous stochastic frontier analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Castles, Francis G., 2006. "The growth of the post-war public expenditure state: long-term trajectories and recent trends," TranState Working Papers 35, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    4. D.P. Doessel & Abbas Valadkhani, 2002. "Public Finance and The Size of Government: A Literature Review and Econometric Results for Fiji," School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series 108, School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology.
    5. Magnus Henrekson & Johan Lybeck, 1988. "Explaining the growth of government in Sweden: A disequilibrium approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 213-232, June.
    6. Sohrab Abizadeh & Mahmood Yousefi, 1988. "Growth of Government Expenditure: The Case of Canada," Public Finance Review, , vol. 16(1), pages 78-100, January.
    7. Allan Meltzer & Scott Richard, 1983. "Tests of a rational theory of the size of government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 403-418, January.
    8. Christopher Hood, 1991. "Stabilization and Cutbacks," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 3(1), pages 37-63, January.
    9. Nouriel Roubini & Jeffrey Sachs, 1989. "Government Spending and Budget Deficits in the Industrial Economies," NBER Working Papers 2919, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Rosen Valchev & Antony Davies, 2009. "Transparency, Performance, and Agency Budgets: A Rational Expectations Modeling Approach," Working Papers 2009-004, The George Washington University, Department of Economics, H. O. Stekler Research Program on Forecasting.
    11. Justin Conrad & Hong-Cheol Kim & Mark Souva, 2013. "Narrow interests and military resource allocation in autocratic regimes," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 50(6), pages 737-750, November.
    12. François Petry & Louis Imbeau & Jean Crête & Michel Clavet, 2000. "Explaining the Evolution of Government Size in the Canadian Provinces," Public Finance Review, , vol. 28(1), pages 26-47, January.
    13. Louis M. Imbeau & François Pétry & Jean Crête & Geneviève Tellier & Michel Clavet, 2001. "Measuring Government Growth in the Canadian Provinces: Decomposing Real Growth and Deflator Effects," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 27(1), pages 39-52, March.
    14. Min-Seok Pang & Ali Tafti & M. S. Krishnan, 2016. "Do CIO IT Budgets Explain Bigger or Smaller Governments? Theory and Evidence from U.S. State Governments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(4), pages 1020-1041, April.
    15. Edward C. Page & Dionyssis Dimitrakopoulos, 1997. "The Dynamics of Eu Growth," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 9(3), pages 365-387, July.

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