Social Sector Spending in a Panel of Countries

Author/Editor:

Reza Baqir

Publication Date:

February 1, 2002

Electronic Access:

Free Download. Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this PDF file

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary:

This paper presents evidence on the political and economic determinants of social sector spending from a panel dataset. The principal finding is that democratization in countries, as measured by within-country variation in subjective indices of democracy, is a significant predictor of government spending on education and health. The relationship is robust to controlling for a variety of factors and the estimated magnitudes suggest that an increase from the lowest to the highest rating for democracy for a country is associated with approximately 1 percent more central government spending and 3 percent more general government spending in social sectors, as a percent of GDP.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2002/035

Subject:

English

Publication Date:

February 1, 2002

ISBN/ISSN:

9781451845365/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA0352002

Pages:

53

Please address any questions about this title to publications@imf.org