The use of swaps by local administrations: the case of Italian regions, 2007–2014

Purpose - This study contributes to the literature on local administrations' debt and attempts to answer the following research questions: (1) What effects do swaps produce on regions' debt? (2) Have swaps been used to finance discretionary debt? Design/methodology/approach - The paper investigates the debt burden as influenced by economic, financial and political variables and forces with panel data techniques, and tests whether swaps have been used to financing debt due to unfunded expenditures. Findings - Panel data results of 15 Italian regions over the 2007–2014 period shows that regions with higher debt exhibited a higher interest rate exposure and have employed derivatives hoping to counterbalance the reduced resources received from the central state, in line with other European countries' experience (i.e. France and Greece). Research limitations/implications - The scarcity of official data and information on swaps has limited the empirical investigations in the literature but did not reduce the losses of local administrations. Originality/value - This study creates the first database on swaps purchased by Italian regions to investigate their impact on their debt. Results show that highly indebted regions with reduced funds from the central state and diminished local resources are more likely to use swaps to fund their debt. Italian regions heavily depended on long-term debt to finance their non-healthcare services, rather than current revenues; swaps have been used to finance discretionary (non-healthcare) debt.