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Do 'Labour' Councils Lower Economic Freedom?

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  • Nicholas Apergis

    (University of Piraeus)

Abstract

Using a panel of the UK counties, spanning the period 2010-2016, this study exploreswhether having a Labour or Conservative council affects a county’s economic freedom.Due to data unavailability of any economic freedom index for the UK counties,the analysis employed direct measures in relevance to three sub-components ofeconomic freedom, i.e. size of government, sound money and the freedom to tradeinternationally. Using a regression discontinuity approach, we find strong evidencethat the political ideology of a council affects all three sub-components of economicfreedom. An implication of this result is that councils appeal to specific groups ofvoters when making policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas Apergis, 2018. "Do 'Labour' Councils Lower Economic Freedom?," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 21(2), pages 149-160, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:idn:journl:v:21:y:2018:i:2:p:149-160
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.21098/bemp.v21i1.958
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic freedom; Political councils; Regression discontinuity approach; UK countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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