摘要：Empirical papers on the size of government suffer from neglecting preferences forgovernment activity as discussed in the literature on varieties of capitalism. Cross-countryevidence for a sample of 126 developed and developing countries reveals a global divide.Among developing countries, Asian countries are closer to continental European economies,i.e., they reveal relatively higher levels of spending dependent on the quality of governance.Latin American countries rather tend towards low-spending anglo-saxon economies andspend to stabilize rather than to fight inequality. Considering these preferences, we do notfind evidence that open countries spend more in order to buffer macroeconomic risks.
关键词：Government Size; Political Governance; Economic Systems; Inequality;Openness; Developing Regions
