Checks and Balances and Public Debt
Jared Hall and Thomas Snyder

Abstract
Why does one country accumulate more debt than another country? This paper performs a cross-country analysis to test the determinants of public debt, with a focus on checks and balances. Public debt has a positive relationship with checks and balances – countries with greater checks and balances than other countries tend to have a larger amount of debt. Political conflicts and warfare are also correlated with public debt. Demographic and economic circumstances, such as the age of the population and national income, may also affect public debt.

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