Abstract
Based on the median voter model, we specify a flexible general framework of the effect of municipality size on per-capita public expenditures. Previous literature has recognized that municipality size should have a non-linear effect on the quality of public goods provision and to this end different papers have applied a range of alternative parametric specifications. Using a very large sample of French “communes” we are able to estimate the effect of municipality size semi-parametrically. In contrast with the parametric specifications, we find evidence of the U-shaped relationship between per-capita public expenditures and population which is predicted by theory.
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Breunig, R., Rocaboy, Y. Per-capita public expenditures and population size: a non-parametric analysis using French data. Public Choice 136, 429–445 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-008-9304-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-008-9304-z