Political Leaders’ Socioeconomic Background and Fiscal Performance in Germany

Political Leaders’ Socioeconomic Background and Fiscal Performance in Germany

This paper investigates whether the socioeconomic status of the head of government helps explain fiscal performance. Applying sociological research that attributes differences in people’s ways of thinking and acting to their relative standing within society, we test whether the social status of Ger...

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Veröffentlicht in:MAGKS - Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics (Band 41-2011)
Autoren: Hayo, Bernd, Neumeier, Florian
Format: Arbeit
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Philipps-Universität Marburg 2012
Schlagworte:
Leadership
public spending
public deficit.
fiscal policy
Wirtschaft
socioeconomic status
Economics
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Zusammenfassung:This paper investigates whether the socioeconomic status of the head of government helps explain fiscal performance. Applying sociological research that attributes differences in people’s ways of thinking and acting to their relative standing within society, we test whether the social status of German prime ministers can help explain differences in fiscal performance among the German Laender. Our empirical findings show that the tenures of prime ministers from a poorer socioeconomic background are associated with higher levels of public spending and debt financing. Social mobility has an asymmetric influence: social climbers adapt to their new class, whereas downwardly mobile prime ministers remain primarily influenced by their parent’s upper-class status.
Umfang:31 Seiten
ISSN:1867-3678
DOI:10.17192/es2024.0106

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