Demographic, political, institutional and financial determinants of regional social expenditure: the case of Spain

This paper contributes to the literature on the determinants of regional social spending using a data set of the 17 regional governments in Spain. With both a fixed-effects static and a dynamic model, results suggest that demography, inputs, institutional design and resources are critical in determi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Herrero Alcalde, Ana, Tránchez Martín, José Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Repositorio:e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/30750
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/30750
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:5304 Actividad económica
5303 Contabilidad pública
regional financing system
social expenditure
social services
Descripción
Sumario:This paper contributes to the literature on the determinants of regional social spending using a data set of the 17 regional governments in Spain. With both a fixed-effects static and a dynamic model, results suggest that demography, inputs, institutional design and resources are critical in determining the size of regional social budgets. Empirical evidence was found about the existence of economies of scale, but social services do not seem to follow a luxury-good pattern. Left-wing governments seem to spend more, while federal regulations work as constraints of regional autonomy. Finally, strong evidence that the `foral` system of regional financing is creating horizontal inequalities in the access to essential public services was found, while the common regime seems to be working well enough.