Three main questions guide this research project with the objective of verifying if increases in specific spending categories can be observed before elections whereas other types of spending are reduced by governors in Argentinean provinces and in Brazilian states. The first one asks if since the democratization elections have served as a stimulus to change the composition of spending by governments in Argentinean provinces and in Brazilian states. Secondly, are governor elections in the immediate aftermath of the democratic transition more prone to provoke sudden changes in budget allocations to specific types of spending, again in the provinces and the states? Finally, what is the impact of federalism on the fiscal behavior of Argentinean provinces and Brazilian states in election years? In order to answer these questions, this project will explore how the elections for governor influenced the composition of spending in Argentinean provinces and states in Brazil from the beginning of democratization through to 2009.
From Lorena Guadalupe Barberia e George Avelino Filho.