Abstract

IBARRA SALAZAR, Jorge; GONZALEZ, Héctor  and  SOTRES CERVANTES, Lida. Political Aspects of Financial Dependence in Mexican Municipalities. Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2013, vol.58, n.217, pp.139-170. ISSN 0185-1918.

Specialized literature has analyzed the impact of changes to fiscal institutions such as The National System of Fiscal Coordination (1980) and the constitutional reforms of article 115 (1983 and 1999) on the degree of financial dependence of local (municipal) governments and the governmental functioning. Political environment as well, affects to an important extent such functioning. Indeed, previous studies in the field of political economy point to the effects of political environment and fiscal institutions -such as public spending and debt- on national and sub-national governments. Based on four variables -political affiliation of the mayor, political affiliation of the governor, composition of local congresses and celebration of local elections-, the authors build indicators of "political confluence" at the municipal level. They study the effect that the degree of political unification at the municipal level has on the financial dependence with respect to the State government, and also to the local Congress. In their analysis, the authors also consider the political affiliation of the mayor and the local electoral cycle. Through its analytical focus and main empirical findings, this article contributes to broadening the scope of empirical studies of municipal financial dependence. Simultaneously, it adds to existing literature in the field of political economy that accounts for public finances at the sub-national level.

Keywords : fiscal federalism; federal projects; political environment; municipal financial dependence.