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Electoral Competition and Public Spending on Education: Evidence from African Countries

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  • David Stasavage

Abstract

Electoral competition can have a significant influence on government decisions regarding public spending. In this paper I examine whether the move to multiparty elections in many African countries in the last ten years has been associated with a clear change in priorities for public spending on education. In particular, I argue that the need to obtain an electoral majority may have prompted governments to devote greater resources to primary schools. I test this hypothesis using panel data on electoral competition and education spending in thirty-five African countries over the period 1980-1999. The results strongly support the hypothesis and are robust to controls for both unobserved country effects and other determinants of spending.

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  • David Stasavage, 2001. "Electoral Competition and Public Spending on Education: Evidence from African Countries," CSAE Working Paper Series 2001-17, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2001-17
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    1. Mr. Ian Lienert & Jitendra R. Modi, 1997. "A Decade of Civil Service Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 1997/179, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Bates, R-H, 1995. "Democratic Transition in Africa : A First Report on an Empirical Project," Papers 514, Harvard - Institute for International Development.
    3. Ablo, Emmanuel & Reinikka, Ritva, 1998. "Do budgets really matter? - evidence from public spending on education and health in Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1926, The World Bank.
    4. Behrman, Jere R. & Rosenzweig, Mark R., 1994. "Caveat emptor: Cross-country data on education and the labor force," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 147-171, June.
    5. World Bank, 2001. "A Chance to Learn : Knowledge and Finance for Education in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13855.
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