Expenditure Composition, Fiscal Adjustment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries

Expenditure Composition, Fiscal Adjustment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries PDF Author: Carlos Mulas-Granados
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
ISBN: 9781451850000
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
This paper assesses the effects of expenditure composition as well as fiscal adjustment on economic growth in a sample of 39 low-income countries during the 1990s. The paper finds that strong budgetary positions and fiscal consolidation are generally associated with higher economic growth in both the short and long terms. The composition of public outlays also matters: Countries where spending is concentrated on wages tend to have lower growth, while those that allocate higher shares to capital and nonwage goods and services enjoy faster output expansion. Expenditure composition, along with the size of the fiscal consolidation and initial fiscal conditions, affects the sustainability of adjustment. Initial fiscal conditions also have a bearing on the nexus between fiscal deficits and growth.

Expenditure Composition, Fiscal Adjustment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries

Expenditure Composition, Fiscal Adjustment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries PDF Author: Carlos Mulas-Granados
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
ISBN: 9781451850000
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Get Book

Book Description
This paper assesses the effects of expenditure composition as well as fiscal adjustment on economic growth in a sample of 39 low-income countries during the 1990s. The paper finds that strong budgetary positions and fiscal consolidation are generally associated with higher economic growth in both the short and long terms. The composition of public outlays also matters: Countries where spending is concentrated on wages tend to have lower growth, while those that allocate higher shares to capital and nonwage goods and services enjoy faster output expansion. Expenditure composition, along with the size of the fiscal consolidation and initial fiscal conditions, affects the sustainability of adjustment. Initial fiscal conditions also have a bearing on the nexus between fiscal deficits and growth.

Expenditure Composition, Fiscal Adjustment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries

Expenditure Composition, Fiscal Adjustment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries PDF Author: Sanjeev Gupta
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
This paper assesses the effects of expenditure composition as well as fiscal adjustment on economic growth in a sample of 39 low-income countries during the 1990s. The paper finds that strong budgetary positions and fiscal consolidation are generally associated with higher economic growth in both the short and long terms. The composition of public outlays also matters: Countries where spending is concentrated on wages tend to have lower growth, while those that allocate higher shares to capital and nonwage goods and services enjoy faster output expansion. Expenditure composition, along with the size of the fiscal consolidation and initial fiscal conditions, affects the sustainability of adjustment. Initial fiscal conditions also have a bearing on the nexus between fiscal deficits and growth.

Fiscal Policy, Public Expenditure Composition, and Growth

Fiscal Policy, Public Expenditure Composition, and Growth PDF Author: Willi Semmler
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description


Fiscal Policy over the Election Cycle in Low-Income Countries

Fiscal Policy over the Election Cycle in Low-Income Countries PDF Author: Mr.Christian Ebeke
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484307682
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Book Description
Focusing on Low-Income Countries, we investigate the behavior of fiscal variables during and after elections. The results indicate that during election years, government consumption significantly increases and leads to higher fiscal deficits. During the two years following elections, the fiscal adjustment takes the form of increased revenue mobilization in trade taxes and cuts to government investment, with no significant cuts in government consumption. Using a new dataset on national fiscal rules and IMF programs, we find that both the presence of fiscal rules and IMF programs help dampen the magnitude of the political budget cycle in LICs. We conclude that elections not only imply a macroeconomic cost when they take place but also trigger a painful fiscal adjustment in which public investment is largely sacrificed.

The Composition of Public Expenditure and Growth: A Small-Scale Intertemporal Model for Low-Income Countries

The Composition of Public Expenditure and Growth: A Small-Scale Intertemporal Model for Low-Income Countries PDF Author: Emmanuel Pinto Moreira
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
This paper presents a small-scale intertemporal model of endogenous growth that accounts for the composition of public expenditure and externalities associated with public capital. Government spending is disaggregated into various components, including maintenance, security, and investment in education, health, and core infrastructure. After studying its long-run properties, the model is calibrated for Haiti, using country-specific information as well as parameter estimates from the literature. A variety of policy experiments are then reported, including a reallocation of spending aimed at creating fiscal space to promote public investment; an improvement in fiscal management that leads to a reduction in tax collection costs; higher spending on security; and a composite fiscal package.

Is Fiscal Policy the Answer?

Is Fiscal Policy the Answer? PDF Author: Blanca Moreno-Dodson
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821396315
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
The effects of fiscal policy measures, both taxes and public spending, adopted by developing countries in response to the 2009 global crisis are still uncertain. This book discusses them using an analytical framework that allows for distilling possible implications on growth and social welfare.

Fiscal Adjustment for Stability and Growth

Fiscal Adjustment for Stability and Growth PDF Author: International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 149833301X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
This paper aims to inform policymakers, and other interested parties, about the IMF’s approach to fiscal adjustment. The approach focuses on the role of sound and sustainable government finances in promoting macroeconomic stability and growth. Achieving, and maintaining, such a fiscal position often requires adjusting fiscal policy, as well as strengthening fiscal institutions. Fiscal adjustment may involve either tightening or loosening the fiscal stance, depending on individual country circumstances.

Fiscal Policy, Public Expenditure Composition, and Growth Theory and Empirics

Fiscal Policy, Public Expenditure Composition, and Growth Theory and Empirics PDF Author: Willi Semmler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
This paper responds to the development policy debate involving the World Bank and the IMF on the use of fiscal policy not only for economic stabilization but also to promote economic growth and increase per capita income. A key issue in this debate relates to the effect of the composition of public expenditure on economic growth. Policy makers and some researchers have argued that expenditure on growth-enhancing functions could enhance future revenue and justify the provision of quot;fiscal spacequot; in the budget. But there are no simple ways to identify the growth-maximizing composition of public expenditure. The current paper lays out a research strategy to explore the effects of fiscal policy, including the composition of public expenditure, on economic growth, using a time series approach. Based on the modeling strategy of Greiner, Semmler and Gong (2005) we develop a general model that features a government that undertakes public expenditure on (a) education and health facilities which enhance human capital, (b) public infrastructure such as roads and bridges necessary for market activity, (c) public administration to support government functions, (d) transfers and public consumption facilities, and (e) debt service. The proposed model is numerically solved, calibrated and the impact of the composition of public expenditure on the long-run per capita income explored for low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries. Policy implications and practical policy rules are spelled out, the extension to an estimable model indicated, a debt sustainability test proposed, and the out-of-steady-state dynamics studied.

The Economic Effects of Fiscal Consolidation with Debt Feedback

The Economic Effects of Fiscal Consolidation with Debt Feedback PDF Author: Mr.Marcello M. Estevão
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484304489
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
The past several years of recession and slow recovery have raised much interest on the effect of fiscal stimulus on economic activity, even as high public debts in many countries would call for fiscal consolidation. To evaluate the delicate balance between stimulus and consolidation requires measuring the size of fiscal multipliers, which often depends on having quarterly data so that exogenous fiscal policy shocks can be identified. We estimate fiscal multipliers using a novel methodology for identifying fiscal shocks within a structural vector autoregressive approach using annual data while controling for debt feedback effects. The estimation focuses on regions with scarce quarterly data (mostly low-income countries), and uses results for advanced economies, emerging market countries, and other broad groupings for which alternative estimates are available to validate the methodology. Differently from advanced and emerging market economies, fiscal consolidation in low-income countries has only a small temporary negative effect on growth while raising medium-term output. Shifting the composition of public spending toward capital expenditure further supports long-run growth.

Fiscal Adjustments in OECD Countries

Fiscal Adjustments in OECD Countries PDF Author: Mr.Alberto Alesina
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1451960433
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
This paper studies how the composition of fiscal adjustments influences their likelihood of “success”, defined as a long lasting deficit reduction, and their macroeconomic consequences. We find that fiscal adjustments which rely primarily on spending cuts on transfers and the government wage bill have a better chance of being successful and are expansionary. On the contrary fiscal adjustments which rely primarily on tax increases and cuts in public investment tend not to last and are contractionary. We discuss alterative explanations for these findings by studying both a full sample of OECD countries and by focusing on three case studies: Denmark, Ireland and Italy.