Electoral Budget Cycles in Latin America and the Caribbean: Incidence, Causes, and Political Futility

Author
Kraemer, Moritz
Date
Aug 1997
This paper examines the effect of elections on fiscal policies in 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean from 1983 to 1996. The budget surplus proves to be lower than normal in the preelectoral and higher in the postelectoral years. Both the expenditure and revenue sides contribute to this cyclicality.