Divided we reform? Evidence from US welfare policies

Andreas Bernecker

Journal of Public Economics, 2016, vol. 142, issue C, 24-38

Abstract: Divided government is often thought of as causing legislative deadlock. I investigate the link between divided government and economic reforms using a novel data set on welfare reforms in US states between 1978 and 2010. Panel data regressions show that, under divided government, a US state is around 25% more likely to adopt a welfare reform than under unified government. Several robustness checks confirm this counter-intuitive finding. Case study evidence suggests an explanation based on policy competition between governor, senate, and house.

Keywords: Divided government; Legislative deadlock; Policy innovation; US welfare reform; Policy competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D78 H11 H75 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:142:y:2016:i:c:p:24-38

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.08.003

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