Abstract (Translated):
This paper explores how malapportionment affects the way Brazilian federal government allocates its resources to subnational units. Specifically, we argue that over-represented subnational units receive more per capita in discretionary federal spending because the executive seeks its legislative support. Using data from 1997 to 2010, we propose and evaluate a model for explaining discretionary federal spending. The findings support the hypothesis that over-represented subnational units receive more than under-represented ones, presumably because the central government strategically target them to gain legislative support.