Small States, Big Pork

Abstract

Using data on authorizations from the 2005 Highway Bill, we show that the legislative allocation of pork barrel spending by U.S. state (measured by the value of transportation earmarks per capita) greatly favors smaller states. We exploit the difference between two versions of the bill: the version that was passed by the House and the compromise version passed in conference committee. Our empirical results provide strong evidence in favor of theories of legislative malapportionment.

Suggested Citation

William R. Hauk Jr. and Romain Wacziarg (2007), "Small States, Big Pork", Quarterly Journal of Political Science: Vol. 2: No. 1, pp 95-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/100.00005048