Table 3 Descriptive statistics
From: How can states benefit from the equity premium puzzle? Debt as revenue source for Swiss cantons
Variable | Source | Mean | Std. dev. | Min. | Max. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Interest rate (in basis points) | Own calculations based on data of the Swiss federal finance administration | 336.043 | 122.71 | 8.297 | 783.488 |
Risk-free rate [lowest cantonal interest rate per annum] (in basis points) | Own calculations based on data of the Swiss federal finance administration | 149.071 | 70.467 | 0.371 | 238.63 |
Interest spread (in basis points) | Own calculations based on data of the Swiss federal finance administration | 186.972 | 84.343 | 1.453 | 581.618 |
Debt (in 1000 CHF per capita) | Swiss federal statistical office | 6.083 | 5.621 | 0.405 | 36.066 |
Cantonal overall fiscal balance (1000 CHF per capita) | Swiss federal finance administration | − 0.076 | 0.538 | − 4.636 | 2.692 |
Cantonal equity (1000 CHF per capita)a | Swiss federal finance administration | 0.838 | 3.501 | − 17.025 | 20.584 |
Cantonal non-administrative assets (1000 CHF per capita)a | Swiss federal finance administration | 4.421 | 3.187 | 0.722 | 21.295 |
Interest receivable (1000 CHF per capita) | Swiss federal finance administration | 0.278 | 0.239 | 0.038 | 1.759 |
Tax revenue (in 1000 CHF per capita) | Swiss federal finance administration | 3.467 | 2.271 | 0.718 | 14.486 |
Municipal overall fiscal balance (1000 CHF per capita) | Swiss federal finance administration | − 0.018 | 0.221 | − 0.814 | 0.943 |
Nominal GDP (in 1000 CHF per capita) | BAK Basel Economics | 51.005 | 19.903 | 17.235 | 162.389 |
Log (population) | Swiss federal statistical office | 12.023 | 1.125 | 9.456 | 14.185 |
Population growth (in %) | Swiss federal statistical office | 0.754 | 0.736 | − 1.569 | 6.960 |
Elderly (as % of total population) | Swiss federal statistical office | 15.141 | 2.196 | 10.183 | 21.756 |
Young (as % of total population) | Swiss federal statistical office | 23.948 | 3.415 | 16.102 | 33.584 |
Unemployment (in %) | Swiss federal statistical office | 2.252 | 1.725 | 0.000 | 7.800 |
Bourgeois parties in executive (as % of all members) | Swiss federal statistical office | 43.518 | 20.394 | 0.000 | 100.000 |
Referendum stringency (index; 1 [hard] to 6 [easy]) | Frey and Stutzer (2000) | 3.856 | 1.296 | 0.000 | 6.000 |
Accounting standard (index; 1 [poor] to 3 [strong]) | Own inquiry | 1.090 | 0.354 | 1.000 | 3.000 |
Debt brake (index; 1 [poor] to 3 [restrictive]) | Feld and Kirchgässner (2008) | 0.572 | 0.978 | 0.000 | 3.000 |
No bailout (dummy = 1 after 2003) |  | 0.321 | 0.467 | 0.000 | 1.000 |