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Budgetary Punctuations: A Fiscal Management Perspective
Author(s) -
Xiao Hanyu,
Wang XiaoHu,
Liu Cheol
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/psj.12362
Subject(s) - entitlement (fair division) , democratization , economics , budget process , legislature , fiscal policy , bureaucracy , punctuated equilibrium , politics , capital (architecture) , restructuring , perspective (graphical) , resource allocation , public economics , macroeconomics , finance , political science , microeconomics , democracy , market economy , history , paleontology , archaeology , artificial intelligence , biology , computer science , law
Although the development of punctuated equilibrium theory makes broad reference to the bureaucratic procedures that regulate budgetary decision making and makes reasonable assumptions about the influence of those procedures on the dynamic of resource allocation, little is known about how the specific mechanisms work. This has led to a call to understand the processes that cause friction in greater detail. This study examines how budgetary output patterns may be influenced by governments' strategic fiscal choices. Using an approach that highlights the roles of various fiscal policy‐making processes, we found significant deviations of budgetary output patterns in capital projects, restricted funds, and entitlement spending, thus signifying the influence of fiscal practices on resource allocation decisions. We further examined how fiscal influences may be realized in the political process of democratization in Hong Kong. By examining legislative filibuster cases related to capital projects, we found evidence associating democratization with greater institutional friction and consequently with larger budgetary output punctuations.