An Empirical Analysis of Scale Economies in Administrative Intensity in the Paraná State Local Government System in Brazil

A substantial empirical study has investigated scale economies in local government functions, most notably in local transportation, water, and wastewater provision. By contrast, relatively little effort has been directed at the empirical analysis of economies of scale in municipal administration, including in Brazilian local government, despite its significance for public policy on structural reform in local government. In order to address this gap in the literature, we investigate administrative scale economies in the Paraná state local government system in Brazil over the period 2006 to 2018. We find that there was a 'U-shaped' scale effect between council size by population and administrative intensity after controlling for a range of economic and social variables. Various public policy implications are considered

Brazilian Municipal Expenditure and Scale Economies: Evidence from São Paulo

Advocates of municipal mergers usually claim that considerable economies of scale flow from council consolidations, which result in larger local government organizations. We examined whether scale economies are present in municipal outlays by investigating the expenditure of 644 São Paulo municipal areas using data over the period 2005 to 2017. We find evidence that considerable scale economies characterize municipal expenditure in São Paulo. However, given that population size and population density are positively correlated, it is critical to determine whether or not the influence of population on municipal expenditure arises because of disparities in density. We find that when São Paulo municipalities are decomposed into sub-categories based on different population densities, evidence in favour of scale economies persists. Thus, municipal mergers in the state of São Paulo may result in lower per capita expenditure

Religion, health, and life satisfaction: evidence from Australia

In this article, we examine the influence of religion on health and life satisfaction while controlling for an extensive range of demographic characteristics and life conditions-marital satisfaction, job satisfaction, financial stress, and social resources-using data drawn from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Our findings suggest that, on average, high levels of faith and attendance at religious services are associated with lower health. In contrast, however, we find no relationship between high levels of faith, attendance, and life satisfaction. Further research is required to unravel how faith and attendance influence health and life satisfaction

An Empirical Analysis of Scale Economies in Administrative Intensity in the Paraná State Local Government System in Brazil

A substantial empirical study has investigated scale economies in local government functions, most notably in local transportation, water, and wastewater provision. By contrast, relatively little effort has been directed at the empirical analysis of economies of scale in municipal administration, including in Brazilian local government, despite its significance for public policy on structural reform in local government. In order to address this gap in the literature, we investigate administrative scale economies in the Paraná state local government system in Brazil over the period 2006 to 2018. We find that there was a ‘U-shaped’ scale effect between council size by population and administrative intensity after controlling for a range of economic and social variables. Various public policy implications are considered

Religious affiliation and earnings: evidence from Brazil

This article examines the relationship between wages and religious affiliation for Brazil using conventional human capital earnings functions. Data drawn from the 1991, 2000, and 2010 Brazilian Censuses were analysed for men and women. Our results indicate that Brazilian men (women) who identified as Traditional Protestants received a small wage premium 2.6% (1.4%) compared to those who identified as Catholic—the largest religious denomination in Brazil—even after controlling for a range of demographic and social characteristics. In contrast, Brazilian men (women) who identified as Pentecostal Protestants received a sizeable wage penalty of 4.3% (5.8%). In an effort to explain the wage gap between different religious affiliations in Brazil, we also conducted a conventional Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition