IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/buecrs/v67y2015i1p30-64.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Can Public Spending Help You Grow? An Empirical Analysis For Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Nihal Bayraktar
  • Blanca Moreno-Dodson

Abstract

type="main"> Although many studies indicate that both the level and composition of public spending are significant for economic growth, the results in the empirical literature are mixed. This paper suggests that the country sample selection and expenditure classification are important in explaining these conflicting results. The empirical analysis shows that the link between growth and public spending, especially its core component, is strong only for countries with macroeconomic stability and fast GDP per capita growth dynamics, which are also capable of using public funds for productive purposes.

Suggested Citation

  • Nihal Bayraktar & Blanca Moreno-Dodson, 2015. "How Can Public Spending Help You Grow? An Empirical Analysis For Developing Countries," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 30-64, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:buecrs:v:67:y:2015:i:1:p:30-64
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-8586.2012.00473.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Ang, 2009. "Do public investment and FDI crowd in or crowd out private domestic investment in Malaysia?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(7), pages 913-919.
    2. Miguel Ramirez, 2004. "Is public infrastructure spending productive in the Mexican case? A vector error correction analysis," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 159-178.
    3. Durlauf,S.N., 2000. "Econometric analysis and the study of economic growth : a skeptical perspective," Working papers 10, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    4. Mahmoud Wahab, 2004. "Economic growth and government expenditure: evidence from a new test specification," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(19), pages 2125-2135.
    5. Alex Segura-Ubiergo & Alejandro Simone & Sanjeev Gupta & Qiang Cui, 2010. "New Evidence on Fiscal Adjustment and Growth in Transition Economies," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 52(1), pages 18-37, March.
    6. Rogers, Mark Llewellyn, 2008. "Directly unproductive schooling: How country characteristics affect the impact of schooling on growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 356-385, February.
    7. Sugata Ghosh & Andros Gregoriou, 2008. "The composition of government spending and growth: is current or capital spending better?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(3), pages 484-516, July.
    8. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    9. Folster, Stefan & Henrekson, Magnus, 2001. "Growth effects of government expenditure and taxation in rich countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1501-1520, August.
    10. Biswas, Basudeb & Ram, Rati, 1986. "Military Expenditures and Economic Growth in Less Developed Countries: An Augmented Model and Further Evidence," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 361-372, January.
    11. Grossman, Philip J, 1990. "Government and Growth: Cross-sectional Evidence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 217-227, June.
    12. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Easterley, William R. & Pack, Howard, 2001. "Is investment in Africa too low or too high : macro and micro evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2519, The World Bank.
    13. Andros Gregoriou & Sugata Ghosh, 2009. "The Impact Of Government Expenditure On Growth: Empirical Evidence From A Heterogeneous Panel," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 95-102, January.
    14. Steve Bond & Asli Leblebicioglu & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2010. "Capital accumulation and growth: a new look at the empirical evidence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(7), pages 1073-1099, November/.
    15. Carsten Colombier, 2011. "Does the composition of public expenditure affect economic growth? Evidence from the Swiss case," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(16), pages 1583-1589.
    16. Moreno-Dodson, Blanca, 2008. "Assessing the impact of public spending on growth - an empirical analysis for seven fast growing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4663, The World Bank.
    17. Christoph Schaltegger & Benno Torgler, 2006. "Growth effects of public expenditure on the state and local level: evidence from a sample of rich governments," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 1181-1192.
    18. Xavier Sala-I-Martin & Gernot Doppelhofer & Ronald I. Miller, 2004. "Determinants of Long-Term Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 813-835, September.
    19. Benoit, Emile, 1978. "Growth and Defense in Developing Countries," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 271-280, January.
    20. Philip Grossman, 1988. "Government and economic growth: A non-linear relationship," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 193-200, February.
    21. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 103-126, October.
    22. Michael Bleaney & Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller, 2001. "Testing the endogenous growth model: public expenditure, taxation, and growth over the long run," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(1), pages 36-57, February.
    23. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2003. "Economic Growth, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262025531, April.
    24. Orazio P. Attanasio & Lucio Picci & Antonello E. Scorcu, 2000. "Saving, Growth, and Investment: A Macroeconomic Analysis Using a Panel of Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(2), pages 182-211, May.
    25. Benos, Nikos, 2009. "Fiscal policy and economic growth: empirical evidence from EU countries," MPRA Paper 19174, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    26. Beck, Nathaniel & Katz, Jonathan N., 1995. "What To Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 634-647, September.
    27. Laura Langbein & Stephen Knack, 2010. "The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Six, One, or None?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 350-370.
    28. Joel Slemrod, 1995. "What Do Cross-Country Studies Teach about Government Involvement, Prosperity, and Economic Growth?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(2), pages 373-431.
    29. Agell, Jonas & Ohlsson, Henry & Thoursie, Peter Skogman, 2006. "Growth effects of government expenditure and taxation in rich countries: A comment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 211-218, January.
    30. Temple, Jonathan, 2000. "Growth Regressions and What the Textbooks Don't Tell You," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 181-205, July.
    31. Toan Quoc Nguyen & Mr. Benedict J. Clements & Ms. Rina Bhattacharya, 2003. "External Debt, Public Investment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries," IMF Working Papers 2003/249, International Monetary Fund.
    32. Levine, Ross & Renelt, David, 1992. "A Sensitivity Analysis of Cross-Country Growth Regressions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(4), pages 942-963, September.
    33. C. Colombier, 2009. "Growth effects of fiscal policies: an application of robust modified M-estimator," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(7), pages 899-912.
    34. Looney, Robert E. & Frederiksen, P. C., 1986. "Profiles of current Latin American arms producers," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(3), pages 745-752, July.
    35. Mr. Hyun Park, 2006. "Expenditure Composition and Distortionary Tax for Equitable Economic Growth," IMF Working Papers 2006/165, International Monetary Fund.
    36. Kneller, Richard & Bleaney, Michael F. & Gemmell, Norman, 1999. "Fiscal policy and growth: evidence from OECD countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 171-190, November.
    37. Bloom, David E. & Canning, David & Sevilla, Jaypee, 2004. "The Effect of Health on Economic Growth: A Production Function Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 1-13, January.
    38. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    39. Shantayanan Devarajan & William Easterly & Howard Pack, 2001. "Is Investment in Africa Too High or Too Low? Macro‐ and Micro‐evidence," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 10(suppl_2), pages 81-108.
    40. Niloy Bose & M. Emranul Haque & Denise R. Osborn, 2007. "Public Expenditure And Economic Growth: A Disaggregated Analysis For Developing Countries," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 75(5), pages 533-556, September.
    41. Baldacci, Emanuele & Clements, Benedict & Gupta, Sanjeev & Cui, Qiang, 2008. "Social Spending, Human Capital, and Growth in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1317-1341, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Igor Fedotenkov & Rangan Gupta, 2021. "The effects of public expenditures on labour productivity in Europe," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(4), pages 845-874, November.
    2. Facchini, François & Seghezza, Elena, 2018. "Public spending structure, minimal state and economic growth in France (1870–2010)," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 151-164.
    3. Phu Nguyen-Van & Thi Kim Cuong Pham & Duc-Anh Le, 2019. "Productivity and public expenditure: a structural estimation for Vietnam’s provinces," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 95-120, February.
    4. Nihal Bayraktar & Blanca Moreno-Dodson, 2018. "Public Expenditures And Growth In A Monetary Union: The Case Of Waemu," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 6(1), pages 107-132.
    5. Dinh Thanh, Su & Hart, Neil & Canh, Nguyen Phuc, 2020. "Public spending, public governance and economic growth at the Vietnamese provincial level: A disaggregate analysis," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(4).
    6. Nihal Bayraktar, 2017. "Impacts Of Africa'S Total And Commodity-Based Trade With China And Oecd Countries†," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 5(1), pages 95-113.
    7. Khalil Ahmad & Safdar Ali & Ayesha Haider & Muhammad Shahid & Muhammad Mudassar Naushahi, 2021. "Fiscal Implications for Rural-Urban Income Inequality: The Case of Pakistan," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(2), pages 246-259.
    8. Duc-Anh Le & Phu Nguyen-Van & Thi Kim Cuong Pham, 2016. "Public expenditure, growth and productivity of Vietnam’s provinces," Working Papers of BETA 2016-17, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    9. Nihal Bayraktar, 2017. "Public Security Spending and Growth," EcoMod2017 10212, EcoMod.
    10. Nihal Bayraktar, 2019. "Effectiveness of public investment on growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(4), pages 421-457, December.
    11. Serhan Cevik & John Ricco, 2018. "No buck for the bang: revisiting the military-growth nexus," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 45(4), pages 639-653, November.
    12. Feifei Yu & Yue Guo & Fiona Lettic & Stuart J Barnes, 2019. "Regional Anti‐Corruption Effort, Political Connections And Firm Innovation Effort: Evidence From China," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 18-32, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bayraktar, Nihal & Moreno-Dodson, Blanca, 2010. "How can public spending help you grow? an empirical analysis for developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5367, The World Bank.
    2. Nihal Bayraktar, 2019. "Effectiveness of public investment on growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(4), pages 421-457, December.
    3. Dimitrios Paparas & Christian Richter, 2015. "Fiscal policy and economic growth: Empirical evidence from the European Union," Working Papers 2015.06, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    4. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Mehmet Ugur & Siew Ling Yew, 2017. "Does Government Size Affect Per-Capita Income Growth? A Hierarchical Meta-Regression Analysis," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(300), pages 142-171, March.
    5. Dimitrios PAPARAS & Christian RICHTER & Alexandros PAPARAS, 2015. "Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth, Empirical Evidence in European Union," Turkish Economic Review, KSP Journals, vol. 2(4), pages 239-268, December.
    6. Hajamini, Mehdi & Falahi, Mohammad Ali, 2018. "Economic growth and government size in developed European countries: A panel threshold approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-13.
    7. Nihal Bayraktar & Blanca Moreno-Dodson, 2018. "Public Expenditures And Growth In A Monetary Union: The Case Of Waemu," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 6(1), pages 107-132.
    8. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    9. Tuan T. Chu & Jens Hölscher & Dermot McCarthy, 2020. "The impact of productive and non-productive government expenditure on economic growth: an empirical analysis in high-income versus low- to middle-income economies," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 2403-2430, May.
    10. Hans Pitlik & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2011. "Growth Implications of Structure and Size of Public Sectors," WIFO Working Papers 404, WIFO.
    11. Tamoya Christie, 2014. "The Effect Of Government Spending On Economic Growth: Testing The Non-Linear Hypothesis," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 183-204, April.
    12. Andreas Bergh & Magnus Henrekson, 2011. "Government Size And Growth: A Survey And Interpretation Of The Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 872-897, December.
    13. Blanca Moreno-Dodson & Nihal Bayraktar, 2011. "How Public Spending Can Help You Grow : An Empirical Analysis for Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Reports 10107, The World Bank Group.
    14. Serhan Cevik & John Ricco, 2018. "No buck for the bang: revisiting the military-growth nexus," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 45(4), pages 639-653, November.
    15. Menescal, Lucas & Alves, José, 2024. "Optimal threshold taxation: An empirical investigation for developing economies," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    16. Arawatari, Ryo & Hori, Takeo & Mino, Kazuo, 2023. "Government expenditure and economic growth: A heterogeneous-agents approach," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    17. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, Victoria, 2002. "Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Fiscal Policies on Long-Run Growth," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-028/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 23 Apr 2003.
    18. Eleftherios Goulas & Athina Zervoyianni, 2012. "Growth, Deficits and Uncertainty in a Panel of 28 Countries," Working Paper series 52_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    19. Ho Thuy Ai & Ping, Lin, 2018. "Impacts of fiscal policy on economic growth: Another look from institutional perspective," Economics Discussion Papers 2018-45, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    20. Benos, Nikos, 2009. "Fiscal policy and economic growth: empirical evidence from EU countries," MPRA Paper 19174, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:buecrs:v:67:y:2015:i:1:p:30-64. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0307-3378 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.