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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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MAGKS - Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics (Band 41-2011)
Main Authors: Hayo, Bernd, Neumeier, Florian
Format: Work
Language:English
Published: Philipps-Universität Marburg 2012
Subjects:
Leadership
public spending
public deficit.
fiscal policy
Wirtschaft
socioeconomic status
Economics
Online Access:PDF Full Text
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Summary: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.
Physical Description:31 Pages
ISSN:1867-3678
DOI:10.17192/es2024.0106

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