The predictive content of public debt for real output expansions and contractions over three centuries: A Markov switching analysis for the UK

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. e00205
Author(s):  
Ioannis Karfakis
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Markov Switching ◽  
Real Output ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Predictive Content

Funding Pensions in Scotland: Would Independence Matter?

2014 ◽  
Vol 227 ◽  
pp. R21-R31
Author(s):  
David Bell ◽  
David Comerford ◽  
David Eiser
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Government Debt ◽  
Bond Market ◽  
Liquidity Premium ◽  
Mortality Experience ◽  
Mortality Risks ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost

Economic issues will be key determinants of the outcome of the Scottish referendum on independence. Pensions are a key element of the economic case for or against independence. The costs of funding pensions in an independent Scotland would be influenced by mortality risks, the costs of borrowing and the segmentation of costs and risks (i.e. pricing to Scotland's experience rather than pooled across UK experience). We compare the overall costs of providing pensions in an independent Scotland against the resources that are available to cover these costs. Scotland has worse mortality experience than the UK as a whole, and Scottish government debt is likely to attract a liquidity premium relative to UK government debt. An independent Scottish government would have to create a bond market for public debt. The liquidity premium would make pensions cheaper to buy, but taxpayers or the consumers of public services would have to pay the cost.

Policy asymmetries and fiscal sustainability: evidence from Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Opeoluwa Adeniyi Adeosun ◽  
Olumide Steven Ayodele ◽  
Olajide Clement Jongbo
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Markov Switching ◽  
Fiscal Sustainability ◽  
Constant Parameter ◽  
Policy Rule ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Analysis ◽  
Debt Dynamics ◽  
Fiscal Balance

PurposeThis study examines and compares different specifications of the fiscal policy rule in the fiscal sustainability analysis of Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThis is methodologically achieved by estimating the baseline constant-parameter and Markov regime switching fiscal models. The asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag fiscal model is also employed to substantiate the differential responses of fiscal authorities to public debt.FindingsThe baseline constant-parameter fiscal model provides mixed results of sustainable and unsustainable fiscal policy. The inconclusiveness is adduced to instability in primary fiscal balance–public debt dynamics. This makes it necessary to capture regime switches in the fiscal policy rule. The Markov switching estimations show a protracted fiscal unsustainable regime that is inconsistent with the intertemporal budget constraint (IBC). The no-Ponzi game and debt stabilizing results of the Markov switching fiscal model further revealed that the transversality and debt stability conditions were not satisfied. Additional findings from the asymmetric autoregressive model estimation show that fiscal consolidation responses vary with contraction and expansion in output and spending, coupled with downturns and upturns in public debt dynamics in both the long and short run. These findings thus confirm the presence of asymmetries in the fiscal policy authorities' reactions to public debt. Further, additional evidences show the violation of the IBC which is exacerbated by the deleterious effect of the pro-cyclical fiscal policy response in boom on the improvement of the primary fiscal balance.Originality/valueThis study deviates from the extant literature by accommodating time variation, periodic switches and fiscal policy asymmetries in the fiscal sustainability analysis of Nigeria.

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