RT Journal Article
T1 Tax autonomy mitigates soft budget constraint: evidence from Spanish Regions
A1 Arespa-Castelló, Marta
A1 González-Alegre, Juan
K1 política regional
AB Within the framework of the soft budget constraint problem, this article investigates theimpact of a legislative reform that increased regional tax autonomy on the propensity ofSpanish regional governments to incur a deficit. For this purpose, a dynamic panel datamodel is estimated, using data for the period 1984–2019. The sample shows a breakpoint in2002, when the reform of the regional financing system came into force, providing Spanishregions with greater tax autonomy, more fiscal competency, and lower intergovernmentaltransfers. Results show that the budget constraint has hardened, as regions have fewerincentives to accumulate budgetary deficits with the expectation of future compensationsfrom the central government. A comprehensive review of the evolution of other factorspreviously identified as determinants of soft budget constraints, and the analysis of tworegions not included in this financing system, suggest no other possible explanation forthese results.
PB Cambridge
YR 2022
FD 2022-10-19
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/25780
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/25780
LA eng
NO Change citation format  Arespa, M., & González-Alegre, J. (2022). Tax autonomy mitigates soft budget constraint: Evidence from Spanish Regions. Journal of Public Policy, 1-32. doi:10.1017/S0143814X22000204
NO This work has benefited from research funding from the Ministry of Science, Innovation andUniversities of Spain (Grant numbers ECO2014–52,999-R, RTI2018–097,434-B-I00, PGC2018–094,364-B-100 and RTI2018–093,543-B-100, MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE); from the Government of Catalonia throughthe grant “Beca per a la realitzaci´o de treballs individuals” awarded by the Institut d’Estudis Autonòmics; andfrom Junta de Andalucía through grant B-SEJ-544-UGR20 from the Programa Operativo FEDER deAndalucía 2014–2020. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBUA.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 19 ene 2026