Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
DOI
10.1002/ijfe.70072
Publication Title
International Journal of Finance & Economics
Volume
Advance online publication
Pages
1-24
Abstract
This study investigates how the personal characteristics of finance ministers influence political budget cycles in Africa. Using a new dataset covering 300 finance ministers across 23 countries from 1980 to 2020, we find that political budget cycles primarily take the form of increased government consumption during election years. Ministers with prior central banking experience are less likely to amplify spending in election years, effectively curbing political budget cycles. These results remain consistent after accounting for institutional quality, ministerial tenure, and other confounding factors. The findings contribute to the literature by showing that the appointment of finance ministers in African countries shapes fiscal discipline during elections.
Rights
© 2025 The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
ORCID
0000-0002-0204-9444 (Strong)
Original Publication Citation
Strong, C. O. (2025). What role do finance ministers play in political business cycles? Evidence‐based on a new African dataset. International Journal of Finance & Economics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.70072
Repository Citation
Strong, Christine Olivia, "What Role do Finance Ministers Play in Political Business Cycles? Evidence-Based on a New African Dataset" (2025). Economics Faculty Publications. 81.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/economics_facpubs/81
Appendix S1: Supplementary Appendix Tables
Included in
Economic Policy Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons, International Economics Commons
Comments
Data availability statement: Article states: "The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."