European Journal of Government and Economics (EJGE, University of A Coruña)
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Impact of good governance in the economic development of Western Balkan countries
Get PDFAfter the socio-economic transformation and the establishment of the free market institutions, the development and improvement of living standards in post transition economies are deemed to depend more and more on the so called secondary “generating†reforms, at the core of which is the good governance. Drawing from this approach, this article seeks to address the role and the effect of the good governance in the economic development of the Western Balkans countries. More specifically, the article investigates the impact of good governance in the rates of economic growth of GDP. The article adopts a quantitative methodology approach, i.e. an econometric model based on the examination of a panel – data of good governance indicators for Western Balkans countries for the period 1996 – 2012. The analysis concentrates on the following Western Balkan Countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia
Institutional quality and private sector participation: theory and empirical findings
Get PDFThrough several conduits, sound institutional quality is pivotal for economic development, as there is evidence that stable democratic institutions, rule of law and sound governance structures in the administration are highly conducive to promote growth. Therefore, a high institutional quality is not only the end point, but also the starting point of a more sustainable development. In this paper we provide some theoretical considerations as well as empirical evidence, based on several regression analyses, that the quality of institutions in a wider sense, and governance, which includes not only the level of “politics†itself, but also the administrative level, is relevant not only for the macro-level of development (i.e. the increase of the national welfare and foreign investment), but also on a micro-level: A stronger participation of private enterprises in public service provision and the introduction of public-private part¬nerships depends to a high degree on the institutional quality. This is even more relevant as the improvement of public services and of core infrastructures can be seen as crucial multipliers for future growth
Vertical externalities with lump-sum taxes: how much difference does unemployment make?
Get PDFThis paper analyses how the existence of unemployment affects the conventional approach to vertical externalities. We discuss the optimality rule for the provision of public inputs both in a unitary and in a federal state. Our findings indicate that decentralising spending responsability on public inputs in the presence of unemployment allows output to be closer to the first best level. Moreover, we describe the inability of the federal government, behaving as a Stackelberg leader, to replicate the unitary outcome, unless there are new policy instruments at government's disposal
New party parliamentary entry in Western Europe, 1960-2010
Get PDFAlthough the number of studies of new political parties is gradually increasing, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of when new parties manage to enter national parliaments. The objective of this article is to explain the circumstances under which new parties enter national parliaments for the first time. Unlike earlier research, this study does not focus on individual party families. Instead, generally applicable explanations are sought. This is achieved through an examination of the importance of the political opportunity structure, that is, the external environment new parties face in their quest for parliamentary representation. Using data collected for 18 Western European countries for the period 1960-2010, the analysis shows that institutional factors are important to understand new party parliamentary entry. The sociological factors analysed in the study, however, do not seem to be of equal importance
Determinants of tax morale in Spain and Turkey: an empirical analysis
Get PDFTax morale is defined as the intrinsic motivation to pay taxes, and is closely related to tax compliance. Determinants of tax morale need to be investigated for a more comprehensive understanding of tax compliance. In this paper, determinants of tax morale in Turkey and Spain are analysed on the basis of World Values Survey data. Firstly, descriptive statistics of the variables used in the models are provided. Since tax morale is an ordered categorical dependent variable, ordered probit models are estimated separately for Turkey and Spain to derive the relations between tax morale and relevant variables. Marginal effects are computed since the coefficients of the models cannot be interpreted because of the nonlinearity of the estimated models. The marginal effects related to the top level of tax morale category are presented. The independent variables are combined by demographic factors, employment categories, economic status of the respondents and social capital variables. The findings from the estimated model suggest that social capital variables and some of the demographic factors have important effects on tax morale in Turkey. Confidence variables have positive effects; if taxpayers feel confidence in political entities they are willing to pay taxes. Religion and national pride affect tax morale positively. On the other hand, the results are different for Spain; social capital variables do not have effects on tax morale. Specifically, confidence variables are found to be statistically insignificant. Age, education level and the income level have significant effects on tax morale in Spain
The role of confidence in the evolution of the Spanish economy: empirical evidence from an ARDL model
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to verify the existence and to determine the nature of long-term relationships between economic agents' confidence, measured by the Economic Sentiment Index (ESI), with some of the "fundamentals" of the Spanish economy. In particular, by modeling this type of relations, we try to determine whether confidence is a dependent (explained) or independent (explanatory) variable. Along with confidence, in our model we incorporate variables such as risk premium of sovereign debt, financial market volatility, unemployment, inflation, public and private debt and the net lending/net borrowing of the economy. For the purpose of obtaining some empirical evidence on the exogenous or endogenous character of the above mentioned variables an ARDL (Autoregressive-Distributed Lag) model is formulated. The model is estimated with quarterly data of the Spanish economy for the period 1990-2012. Our findings suggest that: (a) unemployment is the dependent variable, (b) there is an inverse relationship between ESI in Spain and unemployment; and (c) the Granger causality goes from confidence to unemployment
Collective action problems: Disentangling possible feedback loops between government policies and the public's value-change
Get PDFSolving collective action problems, such as poverty reduction or climate change, depends on interactions between governments' and voters' preferences regarding pro-social actions. This paper examines whether the overall direction of change in pro-social public policy precedes public value-change, rather than the other way around. We examine change in the public's pro-social values in six European countries, as measured by the European Social Survey (ESS) during 2002-2012. In these countries, we conducted an expert survey to rate governmental policy that expresses these values over the same period, thereby examining value-change in governmental policy. The chronological comparison of value-change of the public with that of respective governments suggests that changes in pro-social government policies may drive public value-change rather than vice versa. This complements previous studies focused on the opinion-policy connection. Possible political implications are discussed. The promising findings of this initial study point to the importance of conducting larger-scale future studies
Interest group influence in micro-states: the role of networking skills
Get PDFThis paper argues that an interest group’s networking skills in micro-states may be as important, if not more important than other variables discussed in the interest group influence literature. This argument is based on the recent literature on democratisation in micro-states which shows that politics in these states is personalistic in nature. The argument is supported by expert interviews undertaken in the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
What drives sub-national bioenergy development? Exploring cross-level implications of environmental policy integration in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy
Get PDFWhat are the sub-national implications, in policy and practice, of environmental policy integration (EPI) in EU and Swedish bioenergy policy? Focusing on the exceptional bioenergy expansion within the Biofuel Region in north Sweden, this paper discusses cross-level implications of supranational and national policy decisions on bioenergy; whether environmental perspectives are observable also in sub-national bioenergy discussions; and explores the drivers of sub-national bioenergy development in a multi-level governance setting. The study finds that higher-level EPI plays an important role for sub-national bioenergy development. The degree of sub-national EPI in bioenergy and the type of renewables invested in is to a large extent set by top-down influence from the EU and national level through agenda setting, policy goals and economic mechanisms. Local policy entrepreneurs play an important role for finding win-win solutions that can help initiating local energy projects and ensure sub-national EPI, but environmental-economic —rather than merely economic— motives for getting involved are important to ensure long-term local commitment to renewable energy projects
Editorial statement: Lessons from Goodhart's law for the management of the journal
Get PDFIn this editorial statement we summarise some of the discussions we have had in the last months regarding the risks associated with the use of indicators for the measurement of research outputs, and how these risks should affect the management of the European Journal of Government and Economics. In particular, we focus on the consequences of the so-called Goodhart's law, which states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. We also explain the latest developments in the journal in the light of our previous editorial statements, and present our strategy for the upcoming years