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Direkte Demokratie, Konkordanz und Wirtschaftsleistung: Ein Vergleich der Schweizer Kantone

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  • Markus Freitag
  • Adrian Vatter

Abstract

Starting from the insights of comparative literature on public policy, this article presents a systematic, empirical examination of the impact of political and institutional determinants of economic performance among twenty-six Swiss cantons over the period between 1983 and 1997. While economic contributions often refer to the impact of direct democracy on public policymaking and economic growth they tend to neglect the effect of other political and institutional preconditions. In addition, hitherto there is little systematic empirical work in comparative politics focusing on the impact of direct democracy beyond other non-economic determinants of public policy. Taking the research advantage of Swiss federalism state, our findings provide strong evidence that a better economic performance is systematically related to the frequent use of fiscal referenda in a given Canton. Furthermore, grand coalitions - defined as the sum of popular votes for parties that make up a coalition government with the goal to produce unified public policy - promote a better economic performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus Freitag & Adrian Vatter, 2000. "Direkte Demokratie, Konkordanz und Wirtschaftsleistung: Ein Vergleich der Schweizer Kantone," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 136(IV), pages 579-606, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ses:arsjes:2000-iv-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Schaltegger Christoph A., 2003. "Zum Problem räumlicher Nutzen-Spillover zentralörtlicher Leistungen. Einige empirische Ergebnisse aus dem Schweizer Föderalismus / Inter-jurisdictional Spillover Effects from Central Public Infrastruc," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 223(2), pages 159-175, April.
    2. Lars P. Feld & Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2005. "Sustainable Fiscal Policy in a Federal System: Switzerland as an Example," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Hanspeter Kriesi & Peter Farago & Martin Kohli & Milad Zarin-Nejadan (ed.), Contemporary Switzerland, chapter 12, pages 281-296, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2010. "Direkte Demokratie," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2010 2010-26, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    4. Martin Baur & Pierre-Alain Bruchez & Barbara Schlaffer, 2013. "Institutions for Crisis Prevention: the Case of Switzerland," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 4, pages 10-21, July.
    5. Lars P. Feld & Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2003. "The Role of Direct Democracy in the European Union," CESifo Working Paper Series 1083, CESifo.
    6. Schaltegger, Christoph A & Kuttel, Dominique, 2002. "Exit, Voice, and Mimicking Behavior: Evidence from Swiss Cantons," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 113(1-2), pages 1-23, October.
    7. Schaltegger, Christoph A. & Torgler, Benno, 2007. "Government accountability and fiscal discipline: A panel analysis using Swiss data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 117-140, February.
    8. Klaus Abbink, 2006. "Majority rip-off in referendum voting," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 26(1), pages 1-21, January.
    9. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2002. "Auswirkungen der direkten Demokratie auf die öffentlichen Finanzen: Empirische Ergebnisse für die Schweiz," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 138(IV), pages 411-426, December.
    10. Feld, Lars P. & Schaltegger, Christoph A. & Schnellenbach, Jan, 2008. "On government centralization and fiscal referendums," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 611-645, May.
    11. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2008. "Direct democracy: obstacle to reform?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 81-93, June.
    12. Lars Feld, 2005. "The European constitution project from the perspective of constitutional political economy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 417-448, March.

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