Partisan Determinants of Federal Highway Grants

21 Pages Posted: 7 Sep 2017

See all articles by Frank Goetzke

Frank Goetzke

University of Louisville - School of Urban & Public Affairs

William Hankins

Jacksonville State University, Alabama

Gary A. Hoover

University of Oklahoma

Date Written: August 16, 2017

Abstract

Using data on federal highway grants from the Department of Transportation’s Federal High- way Administration, this paper investigates several questions regarding the political economy of highway funding. We investigate the period 1994 - 2008 and examine whether political alignment and political ideology play a role in determining how much highway funding per capita a state receives. We find evidence that Republican-dominated House of Representatives delegations receive more highway funding per capita compared to Democrats, especially in rural states. We also find that senators in the party of the president are able to secure more highway funding per capita. Overall, the distribution of highway spending over this time period appears to have been determined by political rather than deterministic considerations and in a way that is consistent with how the Interstate Highway System has distributed Republican voters to rural areas.

Keywords: Federal Highway Administration Grants, Political Alignment, Political Ideology

JEL Classification: D720, H770

Suggested Citation

Goetzke, Frank and Hankins, William and Hoover, Gary A., Partisan Determinants of Federal Highway Grants (August 16, 2017). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 6603, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3032907 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3032907

Frank Goetzke

University of Louisville - School of Urban & Public Affairs ( email )

426 West Bloom Street
Louisville, KY 40292
United States
(502) 852-8256 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://supa.louisville.edu/faculty/goetzke/profile_goetzke.htm

William Hankins

Jacksonville State University, Alabama ( email )

700 Pelham Rd N
Jacksonville, AL 36265
United States

Gary A. Hoover (Contact Author)

University of Oklahoma ( email )

308 Cate Center Drive
Room 170
Norman, OK 73072-2103
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/garyhoovereconomics/economics-622

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