 The enduring trauma: How officials' childhood famine experiences affect year-end spending surgeXing Chen, Peng Zhang, Ping Zhang and Andong Zhuge Journal of Development Economics, 2024, vol. 171, issue C Abstract: This study investigates the impact of government officials’ childhood famine experiences on year-end spending surges (YESS), a phenomenon where organizations rush to spend unspent funds at fiscal year-end. We propose that early-life famine trauma fosters fiscal conservatism, leading to underutilized budgets, but the “use it or lose it” rule forces spending by the fiscal deadline. Analyzing data from Chinese cities (2008–2018), we find that officials who experienced famine in childhood significantly increased YESS, reducing fiscal efficiency and hindering local economic development. The effect is most pronounced among those who experienced famine in early childhood and is amplified in financially autonomous cities governed by officials with extensive local networks. Additionally, the observed correlation between mild depression and famine trauma suggests psychological mechanisms underlying the persistent effects of early trauma on fiscal behavior. Keywords: Fiscal expenditure; Fiscal conservatism; Year-end spending surges (YESS); Imprinting effect; China great famine (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:171:y:2024:i:c:s0304387824001056 DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103356 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Development Economics is currently edited by M. R. Rosenzweig More articles in Journal of Development Economics from Elsevier |
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