Current Expenditure Over the Term of Office: The Case of Polish Municipalities
Current Expenditure Over the Term of Office: The Case of Polish Municipalities

Summary/Abstract: This article sets out to examine fluctuations in municipal current expenditure over the course of the term of office. An empirical studywas conducted on a sample of 2,479 Polish municipalities over the period 2008–2022. In addition to total current expenditure, the analy-sis also looked at its components, including current expenditure on salaries and allowances, grants for current tasks, benefits for naturalpersons, and current expenditure on the purchase of materials and services. To account for unobserved heterogeneity and the impact ofthe business cycle, panel models with fixed effects for municipalities and electoral terms were employed. The results indicate that thepolitical budget cycle affects total current expenditure and is influenced by current expenditure on salaries and allowances, as well asgrants for current tasks. In addition, the magnitude of the decrease in total current expenditure in the post-election year is found to bemore pronounced in municipalities with a newly elected mayor, compared to municipalities where the incumbent mayor was re-elected.

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