The influence of population size on the relevance of demand or supply models for local public goods: Evidence from France

The relevance of models explaining local public expenditure behaviour may depend upon the size of the population of municipalities. To refine this intuition, the paper puts two alternative specifications in competition, one from the demand side and the other from the supply side. The data set includ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Papers in regional science 2009-08, Vol.88 (3), p.563-574
Main Authors: Josselin, Jean-Michel, Rocaboy, Yvon, Tavéra, Christophe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administrative geography
Bgi / Prodig
Bienes públicos
cambio estructural
Economics and Finance
France
gobiernos locales
H72
Human geography
Humanities and Social Sciences
J test
local governments
Median voter
Political and economic geography
Population statistics
Public goods
Public sector
Regional economics
structural change
Supply and demand
test J
votante mediano
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Summary:The relevance of models explaining local public expenditure behaviour may depend upon the size of the population of municipalities. To refine this intuition, the paper puts two alternative specifications in competition, one from the demand side and the other from the supply side. The data set includes 14,900 French municipalities for 1998. The econometric methodology uses a data‐sorting method developed to test whether the responsiveness of local governments to voters is stable across small‐size and large‐size municipalities. It appears that the median‐voter model is rejected for the 1,579 municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants, for which a supply‐driven model fits better. Resumen La relevancia de modelos que expliquen el desembolso público local podría depender del tamaño de la población de municipalidades. Para refinar esta intuición, el artículo establece una comparación entre dos especificaciones alternativas, una del lado de la demanda y otra del lado de la oferta. El conjunto de datos incluye 14,900 municipalidades francesas para 1998. La metodología econométrica utiliza un método de ordenación de datos desarrollado para evaluar si la respuesta de los gobiernos locales a los votantes es estable para municipalidades de pequeño y gran tamaño. Parece que el modelo de votante‐mediano es rechazado para las 1,579 municipalidades con más de 5,000 habitantes, para las cuales ajusta mejor un modelo impulsado por la oferta.
ISSN:1056-8190
1435-5957
DOI:10.1111/j.1435-5957.2008.00210.x