Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession
| Autor: | Stephen McNena, Gerard Turley, Greraldine Robbins |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Austerity
Public Administration Sociology and Political Science Economic policy media_common.quotation_subject Economics Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous) 0211 other engineering and technologies 02 engineering and technology Trough (economics) Great recession Irish JF20-2112 050602 political science & public administration Operating expense media_common 05 social sciences Expenditure 021107 urban & regional planning expenditure reassignments language.human_language 0506 political science Capital expenditure Local government Service (economics) language Reassignments Expenditure adjustments Great Recession Political institutions and public administration (General) |
| Zdroj: | Administration, Vol 66, Iss 4, Pp 1-24 (2018) |
| ISSN: | 2449-9471 |
| DOI: | 10.2478/admin-2018-0030 |
| Popis: | This paper sets out to establish the extent of austerity in the Irish local government system during and after the Great Recession. Austerity is measured by the adjusted change in local government expenditure from peak to trough years, and is analysed by type of expenditure, service division and local authority. Stripping out the change in local government current spending that is due to expenditure reassignments reveals that the austerity-related reduction in local government operating expenditure is not as large as often portrayed. As for other findings, there are sizeable differences across the aforementioned classifications, with, most notably, capital expenditure cuts far exceeding cuts in current expenditure. The largest decreases in total spending were on roads and housing services, and small rural county councils endured the most austerity, as measured by the initial reductions in current expenditure. In terms of policy implications, the biggest concern is the large infrastructural deficit that needs to be tackled, arising from austerity cuts in capital expenditure imposed at both central and local government level. As the economy recovers from the Great Recession and the subsequent era of austerity, failure to address this problem will hinder Ireland’s international competitiveness, constrain the economy’s future growth rate and result in impoverishment of public services at local level. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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