Government Size and Economic Growth: An Empirical Examination of Selected Emerging Economies

Author(s):  
Megha Jain ◽  
Aishwarya Nagpal ◽  
Abhay Jain

The current study attempts to examine the linkage between government (public) spending and economic growth in the broader framework of selected South Asian Nations (SANs), BRICS and other emerging nations by using two sets of empirical modelling over the period 2007–2016 by using inverted U-shaped hypothesis, propounded by Armey curve (1995). The first set has employed system GMM technique to explore the presence of the Armey curve hypothesis using the square term of government size, while the second set has used the threshold regression using system GMM panel modelling to investigate the subsequent reversals (tipping point). The key findings signify the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship for the selected data set of emerging nations and, therefore, support the Armey curve hypothesis. The projected threshold (tipping) levels (as a percentage of GDP) are 24.31% for the government total expenditures (GTotExp), 12.92% for consumption spending (GConExp) and 7.11% for investment spending (GInvExp). It has been observed that a rise in the public spending (size) resulted in a substantial increase (decrease) in the growth rate when the public spending was before (after) the optimal threshold level, indicating a non-monotonic association. The findings of the study also suggest a policy implication that public spending could only be a short-term measure to deal with crises in any nation, but not a long-term solution. JEL Classification: C23, C33, E60, E62, H00, H50, O40, O50

2021 ◽  
pp. 115-194
Author(s):  
Ángel Fernández

The study observes the size of the Spanish State by analyzing the composition of the public spending policies in the Public Budget for the years 2007-2012. The government expenditure (central State, autonomous communities and local authorities) has not been reduced to the level required to achieve the control of the public debt. Furthermore, the fiscal adjustment must be done without tax increases because they are harmful for the dynamic efficiency of the economy. Secondly, the study explains the Production Structure of Capital from the perspective of the Austrian School of Economics and, including references and bibliography of previous studies, it shows how the tax increases are against the economic growth, because lower the private saving which is necessary in order to undertake investments and produce the goods of superior order that characterize the developed economies. Finally, the study explains the need to implement an Austerity Plan to reduce the public spending in Spain, in a serious way, by mean of: 1) cut the public budget in order to keep the public administrations in the medium and long term, 2) implement structural reforms to maintain balanced bud gets, 3) fa-cilitate the monitoring by the State Audits Agency, and 4) imple ment certain institutional barriers in the public Law in order to prevent the enlargement of the State by the interventionism of politicians that advocate public deficits and unlimited borrowing. Key words: Financial Crisis, Fiscal Policy, Public Finance (budget) deficit, So - vereign Debt, Public Administration, Economic Growth, Economic Policy. JEL Classification: G01, H30, H61, H62, H63, H83, O40, P16. Resumen: Este trabajo estudia el tamaño del Estado analizando la compo-sición de las políticas de gasto público en los Presupuestos Generales del Estado de los años 2007 a 2012. El gasto público no se ha reducido en las administraciones públicas (Estado central, autonomías y entidades locales) hasta el nivel requerido para lograr controlar el nivel de la deuda pública. Adicionalmente, el ajuste fiscal debe ser realizado sin subidas de impuestos que perjudican la eficiencia dinámica de la economía. En segundo lugar, el presente artículo explica la estructura productiva del capital según la Escuela Austriaca de Economía y razona, incluyendo refe-rencias y bibliografía de estudios previos, cómo las subidas de impuestos son perjudiciales para el crecimiento económico, porque se disminuye el ahorro privado previo que es necesario para acometer las inversiones y pro - ducir los bienes de órdenes superiores que caracterizan a las economías más desarrolladas. Finalmente, se explica cómo todavía existe una urgente necesidad de imple-mentar un Plan de Austeridad que reduzca el gasto público en España, de modo serio, basado en: 1) recortar y eliminar partidas presupuestarias para soste-ner las administraciones públicas en el medio y largo plazo, 2) implementar reformas estructurales que doten presupuestos equilibrados, 3) facilitar el control por la Intervención General del Estado, y 4) interponer barreras legislativas que eviten el aumento del tamaño del Estado con el intervencionismo de los políticos que propugnan déficit público y endeudamiento sin límites. Palabras clave: Crisis Financiera, Política fiscal, Déficit Público, Deuda So-berana, Administración Pública, Crecimiento Económico, Economía Política. Clasificación JEL: G01, H30, H61, H62, H63, H83, O40, P16.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 85-89
Author(s):  
Yadab Raj Sharma

The public debt or public borrowing in Nepal is considered to be an important source of income of the government. Public debt helps to achieve targeted economic growth and to narrow down the gap between expenditure and revenue. However, the country is falling into debt trap in the form of interest and principal payment. In this article an attempt has been made to find out the situation, trend and impact of public debt on Nepalese economy.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/av.v4i0.12363Academic Voices Vol.4 2014: 85-89


SAGE Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824401987720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheilla Nyasha ◽  
Nicholas M. Odhiambo

In this article, we survey the existing literature on the causal relationship between government size and economic growth, highlighting the theoretical and empirical evidence from topical work. To our knowledge, this study may well be the first study of its kind to survey, in detail, the existing literature on the causal relationship between government size and economic growth—in all the countries, whether developing or developed. By and large, our study shows that direction of causality between these two variables has four possible outcomes, and that all the outcomes have found empirical support, based on variations in the country or region under study, methodology, proxies, data set used, and time frame considered. However, of the four, the most prominent is the second view, which validates unidirectional Granger-causality from economic growth to government size, followed by the bidirectional Granger-causality category. The study, therefore, concludes that the causal relationship between government size and economic growth is far from being clear-cut.


2020 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 155-166
Author(s):  
Jose Angelo Divino ◽  
Daniel T.G.N. Maciel ◽  
Wilfredo Sosa

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Konadu Tawiah ◽  
Evans John Barnes ◽  
Prince Acheampong ◽  
Ofori Yaw

Purpose This paper has examined the effectiveness of foreign aid on Ghanaian economy under different political regimes. Design/methodology/approach Using vector error correction and co-integration models on the annual data set over a period of 35 years, the authors demonstrate that foreign aid has had varied impacts on economic growth depending on the political ideology of the government in power. Findings With capitalist political philosophy, foreign aid improves private sector growth through infrastructural development. On the other hand, a government with socialist philosophy applies most of its foreign aid in direct social interventions with the view of improving human capital. Thus, each political party is likely to seek foreign aid/grant that will support its political agenda. Overall, the results show that foreign aid has a positive impact on the growth of the Ghanaian economy when there is good macroeconomic environment. Practical implications This implies that the country experiences economic growth when there are sound economic policies to apply foreign aid. Originality/value The practical implication of the findings of this paper is that donor countries and agencies should consider the philosophy of the government in power while granting aid to recipient countries, especially in Africa. The results are robust to different proxies and models.


2016 ◽  
Vol 08 (01) ◽  
pp. 104-117
Author(s):  
Yang ZHANG ◽  
Sarah Y TONG

Hong Kong's economy grew by 2.4% in 2015, sustained largely by a strong expansion in household consumption. The government took supporting measures, including stronger public spending and tax reduction. The economy has become increasingly interwoven with that of the Mainland and a new bilateral agreement was signed to enhance trade in services. As Hong Kong's economy is likely to face even gloomier climate in 2016, improved physical connections with the Mainland and tighter cooperation are key.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Hendrawan Toni Taruno

Poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue. Over the past four decades, the number of poor in Indonesia has experienced a significant decline, from 40.10 percent in 1976 to 9.82 percent in March 2018. Nevertheless, the disparity of poverty rates between provinces is still quite high. The poverty rate in several provinces in Java Island, for example, is already at the single-digit level, while in Eastern Indonesia, is still more than double-digit level. As it is known, public spending and economic growth are two crucial instruments on poverty reduction programs. This study aims to investigate the role of economic growth and public spending, particularly education, health, and social protection on poverty reduction in Indonesia. By using panel data from 31 provinces during 2009-2018 period, this study used two regression models to analyze the effects of these two variables on poverty reduction, both in urban and rural areas. This study shows that public spending on health and education sectors has a slightly different effect on poverty reduction between urban and rural areas. Convincingly, spending allocation on health and education has had a significant effect to reduce poverty rate in rural areas, while the decline of poverty rates in urban is likely more influenced by spending on health. This study also shows that over the past ten years, economic growth and social protection spending did not have a significant effect on reducing poverty rates. Therefore, in order to reduce poverty more effectively, it would be better for the government to focus its poverty reduction programs on investment in health and education sectors.


Author(s):  
Qaiser Munir

A big size government fosters corruption, which can lead to inefficiencies and resource costs that impede economic progress. In this chapter, it is argued that much of the previous studies have focused only on detecting the linear effects of corruption on growth. This study, therefore adopts the Threshold Autoregression (TAR) approach by using an annual panel data of 100 countries during 1990-2012 to evaluate any existence of a non-linear relationship. This study presents evidence that suggests the existence of a hump shaped (nonlinear) relationship between corruption and long-run economic growth. When the government size is small (11.518%), corruption positively affects economic growth. Whereas, when the government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) is larger than 19.027%, corruption negatively affects economic growth. Furthermore, the result indicates that a non-linear relationship of the ‘Armey curve' exists in our panel of countries. Thus, a government should investigate whether government size is over-expanding or not when designing its public finance policy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-161
Author(s):  
Ersin Sağdıç ◽  
Öner Gümüş ◽  
Güner Tuncer

This study is aimed to investigate the regional pressure groups' effect on the government size in Turkey. According to the public choice theory, elections, political parties, interest and pressure groups, and bureaucracy significantly affect the public production process. Among these actors, pressure and interest groups directly affect variables such as economic growth and public expenditures. In this study, panel data analysis was used to observe the regional effect. The research data set covered 81 provinces of Turkey and the period between 2006 and 2018. According to the results, it was found that interest and pressure groups increase the public expenditures in the less developed regions in Turkey. These results are consistent with the empirical and theoretical studies. For this reason, the study has an important contribution to the literature. This study offers significant conclusions that public economic policies might be under the influence of interest and pressure groups. Even if stated that the results of this study might have many economic, demographic, social, and political reasons regarding Turkey, in the context of public choice theory, it could be seen as a significant indicator of not using public expenditure policies as efficient instruments. This situation shows that public resources are not used efficiently in Turkey and the government has a negative effect on the economy. To eradicate this negative effect, governments coming to power in the future ought to produce economic, political, and social policies in order to decrease the regional differences dramatically in Turkey.


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