Convergence in Local Government Spending: Evidence from Wisconsin

Steven Deller (scdeller@wisc.edu) and Mark Skidmore

No 12635, Staff Papers from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Abstract: A substantial body of theoretical and empirical evidence demonstrates that interregional competition for factors of production leads to convergence of per capita output. Is there an analogous process that leads to convergence of public sector activity? Skidmore, et al (2004) develop a model that is consistent with the macroeconomic growth literature, which predicts convergence in government spending. Based on this framework, we test for convergence in government spending using detailed data from Wisconsin for a variety of municipal government expenditure categories over the 1989/90-1999/2000 period. Our empirical investigation provides compelling evidence of convergence in capita government spending for all the expenditure categories we study. This work adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the existence of underlying dynamic forces that determine growth of government.

Keywords: Political; Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23
Date: 2005
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Convergence in Local Government Spending: Evidence from Wisconsin (2005)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:wisagr:12635

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.12635

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