Public debt and economic growth conundrum: nonlinearity and inter-temporal relationship

Author(s):  
Vladimir Arčabić ◽  
Josip Tica ◽  
Junsoo Lee ◽  
Robert J. Sonora

AbstractThe influential paper by Reinhart and Rogoff (Reinhart, C. M., and K. S. Rogoff. 2010. “Growth in a Time of Debt.”The American Economic Review100: 573–578.) has triggered a debate about the effects of the public debt on GDP growth. They argue that a debt-to-GDP ratio of over 90 percent has a deleterious effect on long-run economic growth. In this paper, we examine the inter-temporal relationship between public debt and GDP growth rates. We examine debt-to-GDP thresholds in nonlinear panel models, using various econometric strategies, methodologies, and data samples. We also evaluate confidence intervals around the estimated thresholds to determine the accuracy of estimated thresholds. Our results demonstrate that in the majority of estimated models, threshold values are not uniquely defined and the estimated coefficients are insignificant in most model specifications, as in Enders, Falk, and Siklos (Enders, W., B. L. Falk, and P. Siklos. 2007. “A Threshold Model of Real US GDP and the Problem of Constructing Confidence Intervals in TAR Models.”Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics11: 1322.). Next, we examine the inter-temporal relationship between the public debt and economic growth using structural panel data models as well as reduced form panel VAR models. In contrast to the standard presumption in the literature, we find that the inter-temporal effect of economic growth on the public debt is strong, but the effect of the public debt on economic growth is weak. We find similar results in sub-samples that include countries where the public debt is over 90 percent of GDP.

Author(s):  
Joanna Stawska

The purpose of this article is to point out the importance of the size of public debt and deficit in the context of Keynesian and non-Keynesian effects of fiscal policy limitation. To achieve this objective primarily were used methods of analysis of the available literature and presentation of statistical data. Considerations include, among others, the presentation of public debt and deficit in the context of economic growth. Expansionary fiscal policy often caused by economic fluctuations contributes to the deepening of public finance imbalance with frequent decline in GDP growth. The restrictive policy has an influence on improving the situation of the public finance sector in the long-term with at least moderate economic growth.


Author(s):  
Iryna Kondrat ◽  
Olena Pozniakova ◽  
Oksana Chervinska

<p><strong>Theoretical background:</strong> The growth in government borrowing, carried out in connection with the banks’ capitalisation, significantly increased the state budget expenditures aimed at servicing the capitalisation domestic public debt, which reinforces the general tendency regarding the exacerbation of the budget risk in the debt sphere in Ukraine. A weighty debt-creating factor was the budget deficit, which was covered by borrowing. Proceeding ahead of the rate of increase in debt volumes in comparison with gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates under the influence of internal and external destabilising factors contributed to the excess of the debt levels security indicators and increased the insolvency risk of the state. The increase of the obligations share denominated in foreign currency or linked to the exchange rate in the overall debt structure as an important indicator of the financial system’s vulnerability to exchange rate fluctuations creates additional threats to debt sustainability regarding the increasing currency risk and the national currency devaluation.</p><p><strong>Purpose of the article:</strong> The article is focused on studying the dynamics and structure of Ukraine’s public debt, its ratio to GDP, and an empirical analysis of the relationship between public debt (external and domestic) and economic growth in Ukraine.</p><p><strong>Research methods:</strong> To empirically test the relationship between public debt and economic growth in Ukraine over the 1992 to 2018 period, multiple regression models were conducted. A real GDP per capita was used as an indicator for economic growth and the debt-to-GDP ratio was used as an index of public debt. Research hypotheses were the following: H1: The public external debt-to-GDP ratio and GDP per capita have a strong negative and statistically relevant correlation; H2: The public domestic debt-to-GDP ratio and GDP per capita have a strong negative and statistically relevant correlation.</p><p><strong>Main findings:</strong> Examining the dynamics and structure of Ukraine’s public debt by borrowing market (external and domestic), it is concluded that there is no strong negative or positive statistically relevant correlation between the public debt-to-GDP ratio and GDP per capita for Ukraine. The impact of this factor is so insignificant that it encourages further research to verify that low GDP growth rate causes the increase in Ukraine’s public debt.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5954
Author(s):  
Qamar Abbas ◽  
Li Junqing ◽  
Muhammad Ramzan ◽  
Sumbal Fatima

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between debt and national output mediated by a measure of the quality of state governance. Using WGIs dataset of 106 countries for the period 1996–2015, the paper analyzes the mediated effect of governance on debt-growth relationship. For this purpose, we use the fixed effect (LSDV) and system GMM estimation technique in order to overcome the possible problem of endogeneity. Results show the non-linear pattern between public debt and economic growth via governance. Although, public debt has negative impact on economic growth, but the results are statistically positive and significant when public debt is interacted with governance, which confirms that governance is a channel by which public debt influences economic growth. Moreover, we calculate the threshold of governance which shows that the public debt has positive impact on economic growth when the governance level is higher than the threshold and adversely affects the economic growth in the case of low level of governance than threshold. Evidence from this study reveals the fact that governance plays a mediating role in debt-growth relationship as there is a pattern of complementarity between public debt and governance: the higher the level of governance, the lesser the adverse effect of public debt on economic growth.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alush Kryeziu

In this paper will be discussed the main concepts and trends of the macro-fiscal indicators in economic growth, as well as their importance in the economic development of different countries, with special emphasis in Kosovo. One of the aims of this paper is to define and explain the connection between macroeconomic indicators with specific emphasis: the public debt, budget deficit and inflation on economic growth. In order to analyze this impact of variables in economic growth, the targeted time period of research is the period from 2004 to 2014. While the data taken regarding Kosovo were obtained from the year 2005, due to the fact that earlier the data have been limited because of the developments in which Kosovo went through. The model that best represents the link between macro-fiscal indicators on economic growth is the linear regression as an econometric model. We will have the opportunity to see and interpret these data. The overall results have emerged in accordance with theoretical discussions presented, but this relationship has not turned out to be very strong because the coefficients acquired did not have great explanatory skills for economic phenomena.


Author(s):  
Seher Gulsah Topuz ◽  
Taner Sekmen

In this chapter, the relationship between public debt and economic growth is examined for OECD countries. In order to determine this relationship, the data between 2002 and 2016 is analyzed using panel threshold regression methods. The findings of the study suggest that the relationship between public debt and economic growth is linear. The public debt threshold is estimated at 99.75% for OECD countries but it is statistically insignificant. While the public debt to GDP ratio is both below and above this threshold, the effect of public debt on economic growth is negative and statistically significant. There is no evidence of the existence of a non-linear relationship between public debt and economic growth. These findings are expected to guide policymakers in the implementation of fiscal policies.


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


Economies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Mindaugas Butkus ◽  
Diana Cibulskiene ◽  
Lina Garsviene ◽  
Janina Seputiene

This paper contributes to the limited literature on the factors conditioning the turning point of the public debt–growth relationship. A decade after the global financial crisis, when the debt ratio in many countries was still above pre-crisis levels, the COVID-19 pandemic again increased the pressure on public finances. It revived the debate on the ability to promote economic recovery through debt-financed government expenditure. However, more intense government borrowing increases its costs and uncertainty about future taxation policy, thus potentially disturbing private consumption, investment, and economic growth. In this paper, we estimate the thresholds of indicators on which the expenditure multiplier depends, which may already imply a risk that public debt will dampen economic growth. We use a methodology of structural threshold regression to examine the varying effects that debt might have on growth using consumption, investment, taxes, and imports as threshold variables, as well as several other factors suggested by previous contributions. The applied methodology allows for the addressing of parameter heterogeneity and endogeneity to be accounted for at the same time. The main results suggest that a positive debt effect is more likely if the conditions for a high expenditure multiplier are met, that an increase in the public-debt-to-GDP ratio is not necessarily deleterious to growth if shares of private consumption and investment in GDP are high, while the tax-revenue-to-GDP ratio is low.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Amarda Cano

Public debt is one of the most important macroeconomic indicators due to its impact on the economy of each country. Literature suggests that the effect varies in each country depending on the level of economic development and situation. Public debt will have a direct impact on a country's economic growth, but there are contrasting opinions amongst economists regarding the use of public debt, particularly in situations of distress and in developing countries. Albania is a country that would be in need of a decrease of the debt/GDP ratio. This can be done through a stimulation of the economy rather than a decrease of the public debt. The empirical analysis shows that the increase on real public debt can negatively influence the GDP, yet, we do not observe a specific level above which the effects worsened. Instead, we notie that whenever the public debt was increasing, the cost of debt would sometimes decrease because the governments substitutes the debt borrowed from second tier banks with debt borrowed from the IMF.


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