The authors of The
Economic Effects of Constitutions use econometric tools to study what they call the
"missing link" between constitutional systems and economic policy; the book is
an uncompromisingly empirical sequel to their previous theoretical analysis of economic
policy. Taking recent theoretical work as a point of departure, they ask which theoretical
findings are supported and which are contradicted by the facts. The results are based on
comparisons of political institutions across countries or time, in a large sample of
contemporary democracies. They find that presidential/parliamentary and
majoritarian/proportional dichotomies influence several economic variables: presidential
regimes induce smaller public sectors, and proportional elections lead to greater and less
targeted government spending and larger budget deficits. Moreover, the details of the
electoral system (such as district magnitude and ballot structure) influence corruption
and structural policies toward economic growth.
Persson and Tabellini's goal
is to draw conclusions about the causal effects of constitutions on policy outcomes. But
since constitutions are not randomly assigned to countries, how the constitutional system
was selected in the first place must be taken into account. This raises challenging
methodological problems, which are addressed in the book. The study is therefore important
not only in its findings but also in establishing a methodology for empirical analysis in
the field of comparative politics.
320 pp.
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