Determinants of state capacity in the Argentinian provinces
Why do Argentine provinces differ in their state capacity? A recent family of models predicts a positive relationship between democracy and extractive capacity, and a negative relationship between income inequality and extractive capacity (Besley y Persson 2009; 2011; Cárdenas 2010). These hypothese...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Ciencias Políticas y Relaciones Internacionales
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Revista Colección |
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| Online Access: | https://erevistas.uca.edu.ar/index.php/COLEC/article/view/867 |
| Summary: | Why do Argentine provinces differ in their state capacity? A recent family of models predicts a positive relationship between democracy and extractive capacity, and a negative relationship between income inequality and extractive capacity (Besley y Persson 2009; 2011; Cárdenas 2010). These hypotheses are tested at the subnational level of a federal country: the Argentine provinces in the period 1991-2001. Results show that (i) the level of subnational democracy has a negative effect on the extractive capacity of local governments, (ii) income inequality has a negative effect on extractive capacity, and (iii) the effect of federal transfers on extractive capacity is not statistically significant. From a theoretical point of view, the most important result is the negative association between the level of subnational democracy and the level of extractive capacity: this raises some doubts on most of the recent literature on the subject and opens the possibility of an “olsonian logic” (Olson 1993): governors with less restrictions could have an “encompassing interest” in their subnational polities. |
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| ISSN: | 0328-7998 1850-003X |