Estimating the impact of gubernatorial partisanship on policy settings and economic outcomes: a regression discontinuity approach

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dc.contributor.authorLeigh, Andrew
dc.date.accessioned2008-12-14T23:40:07Zen_US
dc.date.accessioned2011-01-05T08:40:41Z
dc.date.available2008-12-14T23:40:07Zen_US
dc.date.available2011-01-05T08:40:41Z
dc.date.created2007-06en_US
dc.date.issued2007-06en_US
dc.date.updated2015-12-08T08:25:50Z
dc.description.abstractUsing panel data from US states over the period 1941-2002, I measure the impact of gubernatorial partisanship on a wide range of different policy settings and economic outcomes. Across 32 measures, there are surprisingly few differences in policy settings, social outcomes and economic outcomes under Democrat and Republican Governors. In terms of policies, Democratic Governors tend to prefer slightly higher minimum wages. Under Republican Governors, incarceration rates are higher, while welfare caseloads are higher under Democratic Governors. In terms of social and economic outcomes, Democratic Governors tend to preside over higher median post-tax income, lower posttax inequality, and lower unemployment rates. However, for 26 of the 32 dependent variables, gubernatorial partisanship does not have a statistically significant impact on policy outcomes and social welfare. I find no evidence of gubernatorial partisan differences in tax rates, welfare generosity, the number of government employees or their salaries, state revenue, incarceration rates, execution rates, pre-tax incomes and inequality, crime rates, suicide rates, and test scores. These results are robust to the use of regression discontinuity estimation, to take account of the possibility of reverse causality. Overall, it seems that Governors behave in a fairly non-ideological manner.en_AU
dc.identifier.isbn1 921262 27 4en_US
dc.identifier.issn1442-8636en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/47852en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherCentre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National Universityen_AU
dc.relation.ispartofseriesCentre for Economic Policy Research. Discussion paper no. 556en_US
dc.sourceEuropean Journal of Political Economy
dc.subjectmedian voter theorem
dc.subjectpartisanship
dc.subjectstate government
dc.subjecttaxation
dc.subjectexpenditure
dc.subjectwelfare
dc.subjectcrime
dc.subjectgrowth
dc.titleEstimating the impact of gubernatorial partisanship on policy settings and economic outcomes: a regression discontinuity approach
dc.typeWorking/Technical Paperen_AU
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage268
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage256
local.contributor.affiliationANUen_US
local.contributor.affiliationCentre for Economic Policy Researchen_US
local.contributor.authoremailrepository.admin@anu.edu.au
local.contributor.authoruidLeigh, Andrew, u4170357
local.description.notesThis is a revised version of ANU CEPR Discussion Paper 504, titled ‘What’s the Difference Between a Donkey and an Elephant? Using Panel Data from US States to Estimate the Impact of Partisanship on Policy Settings and Economic Outcomes’en_US
local.description.refereednoen_US
local.identifier.absfor140213 - Public Economics- Public Choice
local.identifier.absfor140219 - Welfare Economics
local.identifier.ariespublicationu8410019xPUB85
local.identifier.citationvolume24
local.identifier.doi10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2007.06.003
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-38949201613
local.identifier.uidSubmittedByu8410019
local.rights.ispublishedyesen_US
local.type.statusPublished versionen_AU

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