The Political Economy of the Budget Process: The Case of Venezuela

This study seeks to provide an analysis based on positive and empirical approaches to the budget-making process in Venezuela from 1974 to 2004 in order to understand budget expenditure decisions and to analyze the actors and forces which affect the outcome. It will tackle the following tasks: Analyze the main actors (formal and informal) involved in the budget-making process and explain how they shape this process. Three different actors will be analyzed: the Executive, the Congress, and the different economic and political interest groups that influence budget allocations in the Executive-Legislative process. Also presents econometric evidence about the main political and economic determinants of fiscal performance, discuss whether different political and institutional arrangements governing the budget process affect incentives for the composition of the budget, and how this occurs.