Ministers and distributive politics: political influences in the regional allocation of public investment in Greece

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the political and private interests of individual politicians in the geographical allocation of public investment, focusing on the case of Greece. The analysis extends over four decades, from the restoration of democracy in 1974 to the onset of the 2008 Great Recession. The results indicate that powerful politicians–such as the Ministers of Economy and Development, Public Works and Agriculture–regardless of their political orientation, favoured their home constituencies with disproportionally higher shares of public investment. Tactical spending in favour of the electoral constituencies of the most powerful politicians created significant distortions in regional development policy objectives and, as a consequence, challenged the effectiveness of public policy. This observation calls for a more transparent, fair and accountable allocation of public investment across space and goes beyond the specifics of the Greek case study.