Public Preferences for Government Spending Priorities: Survey Evidence from Germany

Employing data from a representative survey conducted in Germany, this paper examines public preferences for the size and composition of government expenditure. We focus on public attitudes toward taxes, public debt incurrence, and public spending in six different policy areas. Our findings suggest,...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:MAGKS - Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics (Band 57-2014)
Autores principales: Hayo, Bernd, Neumeier, Florian
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:inglés
Publicado: Philipps-Universität Marburg 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Texto Completo PDF
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Employing data from a representative survey conducted in Germany, this paper examines public preferences for the size and composition of government expenditure. We focus on public attitudes toward taxes, public debt incurrence, and public spending in six different policy areas. Our findings suggest, first, that the current scope of government is supported by a majority of the German population. Second, we find that individual preferences for the composition of government spending differ along various dimensions. Specifically, personal economic wellbeing, economic literacy, confidence in politicians, political ideology, and time preference are significantly related to individual attitudes toward public spending, taxes, and debt. The magnitude of the effects is particularly large for time preference, economic knowledge, and party preference. Third, public preferences for public spending priorities are only marginally affected when considering a public budget constraint.
Descripción Física:32 Seiten
ISSN:1867-3678
DOI:10.17192/es2024.0357