The Irrelevance of Political Party Differences for Public Finances – Evidence from Public Deficit and Debt in Portugal (1974–2012)

This paper attempts to empirically test whether inter-party political differences impact public finances in Portugal differently. Focused on public debt and on government budget deficit, and using data since 1974 for several variables, this paper applies econometric modelling to show that inter-part...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European review (Chichester, England) England), 2017-10, Vol.25 (4), p.560-587
Main Authors: D’almeida, André Corrêa, Mourao, Paulo Reis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Budget deficits
Business cycles
Conflict
Econometrics
Economic development
Economic models
GDP
Government spending
Gross Domestic Product
Mythology
National debt
Policy making
Political history
Political parties
Politics
Public debt
Recessions
Unemployment
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Summary:This paper attempts to empirically test whether inter-party political differences impact public finances in Portugal differently. Focused on public debt and on government budget deficit, and using data since 1974 for several variables, this paper applies econometric modelling to show that inter-party differences have had, until now, no significant impacts on the public finances’ performance in Portugal. In this context, this paper aims at dispelling some myths regarding the ‘value’ of a policy process based on political intrigue, enmity and a discourse of confrontation around differentiated political parties’ merits in modern democracies.
ISSN:1062-7987
1474-0575
DOI:10.1017/S1062798717000291