(Elsevier, 2024-01-10) Ayala Cañón, Luis; Herrero Alcalde, Ana; Martinez‐Vazquez, Jorge; Instituto de Estudios Fiscales. España; Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. España
This paper analyzes the determinants of welfare benefit levels within a highly fiscally decentralized context. More specifically, we analyze the role of mimicking as a driver of the institutional design of subnational government policies in the absence of federal co-ordination and financing. Empirically we focus on the welfare benefit programs of Spanish regional governments during the period 1996-2015. Our results strongly support the significant role played by mimicking: regional public agents observe what their peers are doing and act accordingly, and this holds even in a context of low mobility of households.
