Explaining the Growth of Government

Description

The aim of this book is to explain the post-war growth of the public sector in a number of developed economies. The purpose is to see whether scientists familiar with their respective countries' institutional, political and economic framework, but still working as a group, can advance some common factors behind the growth of government.

Front Cover 2
Explaining the Growth of Government 5
Copyright Page 6
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES 7
Table of Contents 9
PART I: INTRODUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON 11
- Chapter 1. Editors' Introduction and Summary 13
  - 1. Introduction 13
  - 2. Summaries of the Contributions 17
  - NOTES 27
  - REFERENCES 28
- Chapter 2. Explaining the Growth of Government: International Perspectives 31
  - 1. The Issue 31
  - 2. Seven Perspectives 32
  - 3. Evaluation 37

Front Cover 2
Explaining the Growth of Government 5
Copyright Page 6
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES 7
Table of Contents 9
PART I: INTRODUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON 11
- Chapter 1. Editors' Introduction and Summary 13
  - 1. Introduction 13
  - 2. Summaries of the Contributions 17
  - NOTES 27
  - REFERENCES 28
- Chapter 2. Explaining the Growth of Government: International Perspectives 31
  - 1. The Issue 31
  - 2. Seven Perspectives 32
  - 3. Evaluation 37
  - NOTES 37
  - REFERENCES 37
- Chapter 3. Comparing Government Growth Rates: The Non-Institutional vs. the Institutional Approach 39
  - 2. The Twelve Theories 39
  - 1. Introduction 39
  - 3. The Growth of Government: Non-Institutional Explanations 46
  - 4. The Growth of Government: Institutional and Country-Specific Explanations 50
  - NOTES 55
  - REFERENCES 55
- Chapter 4. Permanent Income, Rational Expectations and Government Consumption: A Multi-Country Study 59
  - 1. Introduction 59
  - 2. The Model 60
  - 3. Estimation Results for OECD Countries 64
  - 4. Conclusions 65
  - NOTES 67
  - REFERENCES 68
- Chapter 5. Public Expenditure Decision-Making: A Comparative Analysis 69
  - 1. Introduction 69
  - 2. Explanatory Modes 70
  - 3. Specifying and Testing One Approach to Explaining Government Resource Allocation Behaviour 76
  - 4. Conclusion 93
  - NOTES 94
  - REFERENCES 95
- PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES 101
  - Chapter 6. Swedish Government Growth: A Disequilibrium Analysis 103
    - 1. Introduction 103
    - 2. What are the Facts to be Explained? 107
    - 3. Specification of the Model 112
    - 4. Estimation Method 119
    - 5. Independent variables 120
    - 6. Results 129
    - 7. Conclusion 134
    - APPENDIX 135
    - NOTES 136
    - REFERENCES 137
  - Chapter 7. Fiscal Behaviour and the Growth of Government in the Netherlands 143
    - 1. Introduction 143
    - 2. The Dutch Economy and the Government Sector: 1952-1985 144
    - 3. The Model 147
    - 4. Empirical Application to the Netherlands: 1952-1985 153
    - 5. Discussion of the Results in the Light of Additional Information 161
    - 6. Conclusion 163
    - NOTES 164
    - REFERENCES 165
  - Chapter 8. The Expansion of the Public Sector in Denmark – A Post Festum? 167
    - Introduction 167
    - 1. The Long Perspective – Looking at Two Centuries 169
    - 2. Alternative Measures of the "Burden" of the Public Sector 173
    - 3. The Public Sector and the Labour Market 178
    - 4. The Role of the Public Sector in the Savings Balance 180
    - 5. Explaining the Expansion 183
    - 6. Conclusion: Is a New Equilibrium Possible and in Sight? 190
    - NOTES 192
    - REFERENCES 195
    - DATA SOURCES 196
  - Chapter 9. The Growth of Public Expenditure in Italy Since the Second World War 197
    - 1. Introduction 197
    - 2. Types of Redistributive Policies 197
    - 3. Some Distinctive Characteristics of the Italian Case 198
    - 4. A Model of Horizontal Redistribution 202
    - 5. The Test of the Model 205
    - 6. Conclusions 208
    - DATA APPENDIX 209
    - REFERENCES 209
  - Chapter 10. The Growth of Public Expenditure in France 211
    - 1. Introduction 211
    - 2. Trends in Public Spending in France (1961-1983) 213
    - 3. Theoretical Foundations of the Estimated Equations 217
    - 4. Presentation of the Empirical Analysis 226
    - 5. Analysis of the Results 229
    - 6. Conclusion 236
    - NOTES 237
    - APPENDIX 238
    - REFERENCES 239
  - Chapter 11. The Growth of the Public Sector in Austria: An Exploratory Analysis 241
    - 1. Introduction 241
    - 2. Facts and Figures: The Development of the Public Sector in Austria, 1870-1985 242
    - 3. Theories and Tests: Some Reasons for Austrian Government Sector Growth, 1955-1985 249
    - 4. Concluding Remarks 269
    - NOTES 270
    - REFERENCES 271
  - Chapter 12. The Growth of Public Spending in Norway 1865-1985 275
    - 1. Introduction 275
    - 2. Theoretical Approaches to the Growth of Public Spending 276
    - 3. The Growth of Public Spending in Norway 287
    - 4. Modelling the Growth of Public Spending 291
    - 5. Conclusions 303
    - NOTES 304
    - REFERENCES 306
  - Chapter 13. The Growth of Public Expenditure in the United Kingdom, 1960–86 309
    - 1. Public Expenditure in the UK: Definitions, Conceptions and Trends 309
    - 2. Trends in Public Expenditure in the UK 311
    - 3. The Determinants of Growth in Public Expenditures 318
    - 4. Some Econometric Evidence 326
    - 5. Organizational Explanations 328
    - 6. Concluding Remarks 334
    - NOTE 335
    - REFERENCES 335
  - Chapter 14. Government Spending in Federal Systems: A Comparison Between Switzerland and Germany 337
    - 1. Introduction 337
    - 2. Former Approaches to Explain Government Spending 338
    - 3. Public Spending in Switzerland and Germany 341
    - 4. Public Spending in Switzerland and Germany: An "Econometric Description" 347
    - 5. Summary and Concluding Remarks 361
    - DATA APPENDIX 362
    - NOTES 364
    - REFERENCES 365
  - Chapter 15. The Finnish Public Sector: Its Growth and Changing Role in 1960-1984 367
    - 1. Introduction 367
    - 2. Finnish Public Sector in Comparative Perspective 368
    - 3. On the Role and Identifiability of the Cognitive Factors 370
    - 4. Turning-Points in Finnish National Economic Decision-Making and in the Growth of Public Expenditure 375
    - 5. Turning-Points as Points of New Political Learning 380
    - 6. Turning-Point s and Policy Learning 384
    - 7. Political Learning, Policy Learning and Learning About Structures 387
    - 8. Conclusions 395
    - NOTES 398
    - REFERENCES 398
  - Author Index 401
  - Subject Index 405
  - LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 407

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