Political Competition and Economic Performance

Research Project Funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Thecnology (PTDC/ECO/65711/2008)

Research team

- Linda Gonçalves Veiga (coordinator) - NIPE, University of Minho, Portugal.

- Francisco José Veiga - NIPE, University of Minho, Portugal.

- Paulo Mourão - NIPE, University of Minho, Portugal.

- Henry Chappell (consultant) – University of South Carolina, USA.

- Toke Aidt (consultant) - University of Cambridge, UK.

 

Research unit

        Economic Policies Research Unit (NIPE), Universidade do Minho

Main objectives

This project aims to provide answers to the following questions:

1) Do opportunistic policies affect the vote share distance between the incumbent politician and his main opponent, and does the competitiveness of the electoral race influence the magnitude of opportunism?

2) Do voters’ ideology and personal characteristics affect their perception of how the economy is evolving?

3) Regarding the Portuguese case, are there discrepancies between the amounts of formula-based grants to local governments reported in the national budgets and the amounts that are actually distributed? Can these differences be explained by political factors?

4) Have the attitudes of voters and policymakers towards unemployment and inflation changed over time? Has the process of economic integration in the EU conditioned their attitudes?

 

Funding: 25000 Euros by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/ECO/65711/2006)

Timing: January, 2008 to March, 2011

Main results

Papers:

- Veiga, Linda and Veiga, Francisco (2011), "Intergovernmental fiscal transfers as pork barrel," Public Choice, forthcoming.

- Veiga, Linda (2012), "Determinants of the Assignment of EU Funds to Portuguese Municipalities," Public Choice, 153: 215-233.

- Aidt, Toke; Veiga, Francisco and Veiga, Linda (2011), "Election Results and Opportunistic Policies: A New Test of the Rational Political Business Cycle Model," Public Choice, 148: 21-44.

- Veiga, Francisco and Veiga, Linda (2010), "The Impact of Local and National Economic Conditions on Legislative Election Results," Applied Economics, 42: 1727-1734.

 

Work in progress:

- Mourão, Paulo and Veiga, Linda (2010), "Elections, fiscal policy and fiscal illusion," NIPE WP 18/2010.

- Nogueira, Carlos Gama and Veiga, Linda (2010), "Economic determinants of citizens’ support for the European Union," NIPE WP 27/2010.

- Silva, Hélia; Veiga, Linda and Portela, Miguel, "Strategic Interaction in Local Fiscal Policy: Evidence from Portuguese Municipalities," NIPE WP 23/2011.  

 

Ph.D. thesis supervisions:

- Candidate: Paulo Reis Mourão

Title: "Ilusão Fiscal"

Supervisor: Linda Veiga

Programme: Ph.D. in Economics - University of Minho

Defended in September 2009.

- Candidate: Maria José Andrade Pais Valente

Title: "Tributação do Património e Determinantes no Sucesso Político dos Governantes"

Supervisor: Linda Veiga

Programame: Ph.D. in Economics - University of Minho

Defended in July 2010.

- Candidate: Rodrigo Caldeira de Almeida Martins

Title: “Análise Económica do Comportamento Eleitoral em Portugal”

Supervisor: Francisco Veiga

Programme: Ph.D. in Economics - University of Coimbra

Defended in July 2010.

 

Master thesis supervisions:

- Candidate: Hélia Patrícia Oliveira Silva

Title: Strategic Interaction in Local Fiscal Policy: Evidence from Portuguese Municipalities

Supervisor: Linda Veiga

Programme: Master in Economics, Markets and Public Policies - University of Minho, Portugal

Defended in July 2009.

- Candidate: Patrícia Oliveira e Silva

Title: Crescimento do Peso do Estado na Economia Portuguesa – Evidência Empírica

Supervisor: Linda Veiga

Programme: Master in Economics - University of Minho, Portugal

Defended in November 2009.

- Candidate: António Fernando da Silva Fernandes

Title: “A Economia Política das Transferências da União Europeia para os Municípios Portugueses”

Supervisor: Linda Veiga

Programme: Mestrado em Economia - University of Minho, Portugal

Defended on May 2010.

- Candidate: Carlos André da Silva Gama Nogueira

Title: “Economic Determinants of the European Union’s Popularity”

Supervisor: Linda Veiga

Programme: Mestrado em Economia - University of Minho, Portugal

Defended in July 2010.