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The Political Economy of Budget Deficits in the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Markus Freitag

    (Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Switzerland)

  • Pascal Sciarini

    (IDHEAP, Lausanne, Switzerland)

Abstract

This article tries to evaluate the impact of domestic and international factors on both deficits and deficit reduction in the European Union. Based on data covering 14 countries and 20 fiscal years (1978-97) we test the major hypotheses in the political economy literature. Beyond the investigation of the causes of cross-sectional variations in budget outcomes, we are also interested in changing patterns of influences over time, resulting from so-called `structural breaks'. On the one hand, our pooled time-series analyses show that very few political and institutional factors influenced the budget outcomes of the EU member states during this period. On the other hand, our estimation results provide suggestive support for our assumption that `Maastricht' amounted to a decisive structural break.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus Freitag & Pascal Sciarini, 2001. "The Political Economy of Budget Deficits in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 2(2), pages 163-189, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:2:y:2001:i:2:p:163-189
    DOI: 10.1177/1465116501002002002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Vigninou GAMMADIGBE & Ismaël ISSIFOU & Daouda SEMBENE & Sampawende J.-A. TAPSOBA, 2018. "Convergence et divergence budgétaire en Afrique : le rôle des Communautés économiques régionales et des Unions économiques et monétaires," Working Papers P217, FERDI.
    2. Salih BARIŞIK & Abdullah BARIS, 2017. "Impact of governance on budget deficit in developing countries," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(2(611), S), pages 111-130, Summer.
    3. Thushyanthan Baskaran, 2009. "Did the Maastricht treaty matter for macroeconomic performance? A difference‐in‐difference investigation," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(3), pages 331-358, August.

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