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Political Control of Administrative Spending: The Case of Local Governments in Norway

In: Fiscal Federalism and State–local Finance

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  • Jorid Kalseth
  • Jørn Rattsø

Abstract

Excessive administrative spending in local governments has been a concern in the public debate in Norway. Administration takes resources away from welfare services such as primary education and care for the elderly. Since administrative spending varies considerably between local governments, a study of the political and economic factors involved is warranted. The central hypothesis is that the administrators will have more power relative to the politicians when political control is divided between parties. Estimation of a demand model of administration added political structure shows strong empirical correlations between types of coalition governments and socialist controlled governments and the level of administrative spending. Divided political control strengthens the hands of the agenda setting bureaucrats.
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Suggested Citation

  • Jorid Kalseth & Jørn Rattsø, 1998. "Political Control of Administrative Spending: The Case of Local Governments in Norway," Chapters, in: Jørn Rattsø (ed.), Fiscal Federalism and State–local Finance, chapter 11, pages 181-201, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:1426_11
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    2. Jorid Kalseth & Jørn Rattsø, 1998. "Spending and Overspending in Local Government Administration: A Minimum Requirement Approach Applied to Norway," Chapters, in: Jørn Rattsø (ed.), Fiscal Federalism and State–local Finance, chapter 19, pages 339-351, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    1. Caillan Fellows & Brian Dollery & Carolyn‐Thi Thanh Dung Tran, 2022. "Is Bigger More Efficient? An Empirical Analysis of Scale Economies in Administration in South Australian Local Government," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 41(1), pages 54-67, March.
    2. Geys, Benny & Heinemann, Friedrich & Kalb, Alexander, 2010. "Voter involvement, fiscal autonomy and public sector efficiency: Evidence from German municipalities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 265-278, June.
    3. Carlsen, Fredrik & Langset, Bjorg & Rattso, Jorn, 2005. "The relationship between firm mobility and tax level: Empirical evidence of fiscal competition between local governments," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 273-288, September.
    4. Dahlberg, Matz & Mörk, Eva, 2004. "Public employment and the double role of bureaucrats," Working Paper Series 2004:11, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    5. Lars-Erik Borge & Marianne Haraldsvik, 2009. "Efficiency potential and determinants of efficiency: an analysis of the care for the elderly sector in Norway," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(4), pages 468-486, August.
    6. Federico Revelli, 2010. "Spend more, get more? An inquiry into English local government performance," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 185-207, January.
    7. Lars-Erik Borge & Jørn Rattsø, 2005. "The Relationships between Cost and User Charges: The Case of the Norwegian Utility Service," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 61(1), pages 98-119, March.
    8. Lars-Erik Borge & Linn Renée Naper, 2006. "Efficiency Potential and Efficiency Variation in Norwegian Lower Secondary Schools," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 62(2), pages 221-249, June.
    9. Matz Dahlberg & Heléne Lundqvist Nilsson & Eva Mörk, 2008. "Intergovernmental Grants and Bureaucratic Power," CESifo Working Paper Series 2430, CESifo.
    10. John Ashworth & Benny Geys & Bruno Heyndels, 2005. "Government Weakness and Local Public Debt Development in Flemish Municipalities," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 395-422, August.
    11. Per Tovmo, 2007. "Budgetary Procedures and Deficits in Norwegian Local Governments," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 37-49, January.
    12. Jonatan Lautenschlage, 2022. "The Influence of Mayors’ Characteristics and Elections on the Composition of Brazilian Municipalities’ Expenditures," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(10), pages 1-23, October.
    13. Borge, Lars-Erik & Rattsø, Jørn, 2008. "Property taxation as incentive for cost control: Empirical evidence for utility services in Norway," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6), pages 1035-1054, August.
    14. Revelli Federico & Tovmo Per, 2006. "Declared vs. revealed yardstick competition:Local government efficiency in Norway," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 200605, University of Turin.
    15. Lopes da Fonseca, Mariana, 2017. "Political determinants of municipal accounts: Quasi-experimental evidence from Portugal," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 238, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics, revised 2017.
    16. Siew King Ting & Brian Dollery & Rene Villano, 2014. "Administrative scale economies in local government: An empirical analysis of Sabah municipalities, 2000 to 2009," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(13), pages 2899-2915, October.
    17. Borge, Lars-Erik, 2000. "Charging for public services: the case of utilities in Norwegian local governments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 703-718, December.
    18. Lars-Erik Borge & Torberg Falch & Per Tovmo, 2008. "Public sector efficiency: the roles of political and budgetary institutions, fiscal capacity, and democratic participation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 475-495, September.
    19. Falch, Torberg & Rattso, Jorn, 1999. "Local public choice of school spending: disaggregating the demand function for educational services," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 361-373, June.
    20. Torberg Falch & Bjarne Strøm, 2003. "Wage Bargaining and Political Strength in the Public Sector," Working Paper Series 3203, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    21. Christian Bruns & Oliver Himmler, 2011. "Newspaper Circulation and Local Government Efficiency," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 113, pages 470-492, June.
    22. Geys, Benny & Moesen, Wim, 2008. "Measuring local government technical (in)efficiency: An application and comparison of FDH, DEA and econometric approaches," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Processes and Governance SP II 2008-21, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    23. Jon Fiva & Jørn Rattsø, 2007. "Local choice of property taxation: evidence from Norway," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 457-470, September.

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