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Making Subsidies Work: Rules vs. Discretion

Author

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  • Cingano, Federico

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Palomba, Filippo

    (Princeton University)

  • Pinotti, Paolo

    (Bocconi University)

  • Rettore, Enrico

    (University of Padova)

Abstract

We estimate the employment effects of a large program of public investment subsidies that ranked applications on a score reflecting both objective criteria and local politicians' preferences. Leveraging the rationing of funds as an ideal RDD, we characterize the heterogeneity of treatment effects and cost-per-new-job across inframarginal firms, and we estimate the cost effectiveness of subsidies under factual and counterfactual allocations. Firms ranking high on objective criteria and firms preferred by local politicians generated larger employment growth on average, but the latter did so at a higher cost-per-job. We estimate that relying only on objective criteria would reduce the cost-per-job by 11%, while relying only on political discretion would increase such cost by 47%.

Suggested Citation

  • Cingano, Federico & Palomba, Filippo & Pinotti, Paolo & Rettore, Enrico, 2022. "Making Subsidies Work: Rules vs. Discretion," IZA Discussion Papers 15172, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15172
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    Cited by:

    1. Matilde Cappelletti & Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Gabriele Rovigatti, 2022. "Procuring Survival," CESifo Working Paper Series 10124, CESifo.
    2. Vincenzo Cuciniello & Claudio Michelacci & Luigi Paciello, 2023. "Subsidizing business entry in competitive credit markets," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1424, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    3. Cappelletti, Matilde & Giuffrida, Leonardo M., 2021. "Procuring survival," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-093, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Marco Bertoni & Giorgio Brunello & Lorenzo Cappellari & Maria De Paola, 2023. "The long-run earnings effects of winning a mayoral election," LISER Working Paper Series 2023-02, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    5. Alexandre, Fernando & Chaves, Miguel & Portela, Miguel, 2022. "Investment Grants and Firms' Productivity: How Effective Is a Grant Booster Shot?," IZA Discussion Papers 15779, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Cingano, Federico & Palomba, Filippo & Pinotti, Paolo & Rettore, Enrico, 2023. "Granting more bang for the buck: The heterogeneous effects of firm subsidies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public subsidies; investment; employment; political discretion; regression discontinuity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies

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