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Conditional Election and Partisan Cycles in Government Support to the Agricultural Sector: An Empirical Analysis
Author(s) -
Klomp Jeroen,
Haan Jakob
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1093/ajae/aat007
Subject(s) - democracy , agriculture , government (linguistics) , economics , ideology , public sector , panel data , politics , developing country , empirical evidence , political science , development economics , political economy , economic growth , economy , econometrics , geography , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology , law
We examine the effect of elections and government ideology on public funding to the agricultural sector using a panel model for more than 70 democratic countries from 1975‐2009. We find that support for agriculture increases prior to elections, and that right‐wing governments redistribute more income to the agricultural sector than left‐wing governments. Political cycles are conditional on certain factors; for example, elections have a stronger effect on support under right‐wing cabinets. Further, in industrialized countries, the election (partisan) effect is strongest under majoritarian (proportional) electoral systems. In developing countries, the election (partisan) effect is strongest under proportional (majoritarian) electoral systems.