Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/51526 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 661
Publisher: 
Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department, Washington, DC
Abstract: 
This paper introduces preliminary evidence from a cross-country database of policy characteristics and potential uses of that database. While most databases have emphasized either the content of policies (e.g., size of government deficits) or countries' formal institutions (e.g., political regime, electoral system), the variables in this database reflect the policymaking capabilities of different polities. The paper attempts to explain these policy characteristics as depending on the workings of political institutions, using a logic emphasizing intertemporal political compromise. The paper also contrasts this logic with alternatives such as the veto players approach. The paper concludes by suggesting the use of these policy characteristics or state capabilities as explanatory variables for the effectiveness of public spending in various social areas.
Subjects: 
Political institutions
Public policies
Government capabilities
Veto players
Intertemporal cooperation
Development
Human Development Index
Public expenditures
Policy index
Adaptability
Stability
Judicial independence
Party institutionalization
Congress capabilities
Cabinet stability
Database
JEL: 
D72
D78
H10
H50
O10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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