Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Papers,
Lund University, Department of Economics

No 2011:8: Institutions promoting budgetary discipline: evidence from Swedish municipalities

Jens Dietrichson () and Lina Maria Ellegård ()
Additional contact information
Jens Dietrichson: Department of Economics, Lund University, Postal: Department of Economics, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Box 7082, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden
Lina Maria Ellegård: Department of Economics, Lund University, Postal: Department of Economics, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Box 7082, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden

Abstract: Conflicts of interest within hierarchic government organizations regarding the importance of fiscal discipline create the need for institutions that curb the bargaining power of units in charge of implementing policy and align their incentives to the interests of the whole organization. We examine this general public sector problem by collecting unique data on budget institutions and conflicts of interest within the Swedish municipalities. Our estimations suggest that institutions pertaining to both the planning stage and the implementation stage of the budget process are important for fiscal performance. The fiscal surplus is higher in municipalities that have centralized their budget process to some degree, and where local committees are allowed to carry over surpluses or forced to carry over deficits between fiscal years. The associations however differ between municipalities with different degrees of conflicts of interests, calling for further research to understand the incentives given by the result carry-over rules. We further find that the fiscal surplus is higher in municipalities where local managers face a relatively high risk of dismissal as a consequence of budget deficits.

Keywords: budget institutions; public organizations; municipalities; deficit/surplus

JEL-codes: D02; D73; H61; H62; H72

38 pages, First version: January 31, 2011. Revised: August 5, 2014. Earlier revisions: December 20, 2012.

Full text files

WP11_8.pdf PDF-file 
WP11_8_app.pdf PDF-file Appendix

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Published as
Jens Dietrichson and Lina Maria Ellegård, (2015), 'Institutions improving fiscal performance: evidence from Swedish municipalities', International Tax and Public Finance, vol 22, no 5, pages 861-886

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