Political stability and fiscal policy time series evidence for the Swiss federal level since 1849

• Verfasst von: Feld, Lars P.
• Verfasst von: Schaltegger, Christoph A.
• Titel: Political stability and fiscal policy time series evidence for the Swiss federal level since 1849
• Verf.angabe: Lars P. Feld ; Christoph A. Schaltegger
• Verlagsort: Munich
• Verlag: Univ., Center for Economic Studies
• Jahr: 2009
• Umfang: 34 S.
• Illustrationen: graph. Darst., Ill., Tab.
• Format: 21 cm
• Gesamttitel/Reihe: CESifo working paper series ; 2691 : Public finance
• Fussnoten: Literaturverz. S. 27 - 30
• Schlagwörter: (g)Schweiz / (s)Finanzpolitik / (z)Geschichte 1849-2009
• Sprache: eng
• Bibliogr. Hinweis: Erscheint auch als : Online-Ausgabe: Feld, Lars P., 1966 - : Political stability and fiscal policy. - München : CESifo, 2009. - Online-Ressource (34 S.)
• K10plus-PPN: 611949644

Abstract

This paper explores the role of political stability on fiscal policy choices in a time-series analysis over 158 years on the Swiss federal level. We argue that the fiscal-commons problem of public finances is affected by the time-horizon of a finance minister. Arguably, the incentives for an incumbent to maintain a good reputation with sound policy decisions are stronger the longer the time-horizon of a respective term. In addition, a finance minister who succeeds to stay a long time in office normally enjoys a politically powerful position towards the parliament, the administration and the interest groups to influence policy decisions. In contrast, frequent government turnover weakens the position of the finance minister.