In a seminal article, Weingast et al. (1981) argue that there is a positive relationship between legislature size and inefficiency in public expenditures. Their proposition is currently known as the "law of 1/n" and has been widely debated in political science and public administration. However, recent studies have questioned the validity of the theory. In this letter, we estimate the first meta-analysis of the relationship between the number of legislators and public spending. Based on a sample of 29 articles, we find no robust evidence for the effect of legislature size on government budgets. Yet the aggregate results show significant heterogeneity. While earlier studies provide moderate support for the "law of 1/n", papers using causal inference methods consistently find a negative relationship between seats and spending. The available evidence also indicates that proportional representation and mixed voting systems are no more likely to overspend than majoritarian ones.
Corruption and legislature size: Evidence from Brazil
