A influência de fatores políticos e institucionais na política fiscal subnacional

Abstract

The way fiscal management relates to the political system dynamics and institutions is a promising study object in Brazil, especially after the 1988 Constitution, which implemented a large fiscal decentralization, with municipalities being moved to the foreground in the national scene. This dissertation provides a few contributions in the debate. The first essay investigates if electoral incentives, represented here by the re-election, make the incumbent mayor-nominee to enhance its township fiscal performance. The empirical results suggest a better budgetary performance for first-term mayors that intend to run for a second term, as compared to firstterm mayors that do not target a second term, and second-term mayors. In fact the analysis shows that first-term mayors without the intention of a second term tend to act just like secondterm mayors. The second essay highlights the existence of a bias in the distribution of federal transfers, benefiting townships in which the mayor's party has party affinity with the influential political coalition in the region where the township is located. The results are particularly interesting, considering Brazil's current political crisis in which government credibility is hampered by the several corruption scandals, most of them involving political bargains that use voluntary transfers, particularly the ones from congressional amendments. In summary, this work provides empirical evidence highlighting the political and institutional variables that affect fiscal policy at the sub-national levels in Brazil.