Does states fragility influence the efficiency of public spending in developing countries? 

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> Several studies analyze the determinants of public spending efficiency. However, states fragility is often overlooked. This paper contributes to the large literature on public spending by examining the effect of states fragility. The empirical analysis covers 99 developing countries for the period 2006–2019. Using several empirical approaches, this analysis finds that states fragility negatively affects the efficiency of total public spending. The negative effect remains significant when the efficiency score is disaggregated by health and education spending. Using the components of states fragility, only factionalized elites, uneven development, and demographic pressures have no effect on the efficiency of public spending. This suggests that policymakers need to reduce political, socioeconomic, and security weaknesses-the different dimensions of states fragility-in order to increase resilience and manage resources effectively. <bold>JEL Codes:</bold>H7, H75, H50, I0