The geography of federal allocations in the United States preliminary tests of some hypotheses for political geography

Governments are among the largest spenders in most countries, and their spatial allocation policies have considerable impact on variation in levels of well-being. In a preliminary attempt to develop a theory to account for the geography of government spending, this note uses electoral variables to estimate interstate variations in federal allocations to states within the U.S.A., based on a model of the politician as a vote-plurality maximizer. Results of the preliminary tests are encouraging and suggest lines for further investigation.