Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0

Author-Name: Luis Ayala
Author-Workplace-Name: Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, ES
Author-Workplace-Email: layala@cee.uned.es

Author-Name: Ana Herrero-Alcade
Author-Workplace-Name: Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, ES
Author-Workplace-Email: aherrero@cee.uned.es

Author-Name: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
Author-Workplace-Name: International Center for Public Policy, Georgia State University, USA
Author-Workplace-Email: jorgemartinez@gsu.edu 

Title: Welfare Benefits in Highly Decentralized Fiscal Systems: Evidence on Interregional Mimicking


Abstract: This paper analyzes the determinants of welfare benefit levels within a highly fiscally decentralized context. More specifically, we analyze the role of mimicking as a driver of the institutional design of subnational government policies in the absence of federal co-ordination and financing. Empirically, we focus on the welfare benefit programs of Spanish regional governments during the period 1996-2015. Our results strongly support the significant role played by mimicking: regional public agents observe what their peers are doing and act accordingly, and this holds even in a context of low mobility of households.
Length: 50 pages 

Creation-Date: 2021-03

File-URL: https://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2021/03/21-07-Interregional-Mimicking-and-Decentralized-Welfare.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf

Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper2107