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Wagner'S Law: An Econometric Test For South Africa, 1960‐2006

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  • Emmanuel Ziramba

Abstract

The main objective for this paper is to test Wagner's law by analysing the causal relationships between real government expenditure and real income for South Africa for the period 1960‐2006. The paper tests the long‐run relationship between the two variables using the autoregressive distributive lag approach to cointegration suggested by Pesaran et al. We use the Granger non‐causality test procedure developed by Toda and Yamamoto, which uses a vector autoregression model to test for the causal link between the two. Evidence of cointegration is sufficient to establish a long‐run relationship between government expenditure and income. However, support for Wagner's law would require unidirectional causality from income to government expenditure. Therefore, cointegration should be seen as a necessary condition for Wagner's law, but not sufficient. This research does find a long‐run relationship between real per capita government expenditure and real per capita income. Results for the short‐run causality find bidirectional causality. On the basis of empirical results in this paper, one may tentatively conclude that Wagner's law finds no support in South Africa.

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  • Emmanuel Ziramba, 2008. "Wagner'S Law: An Econometric Test For South Africa, 1960‐2006," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 76(4), pages 596-606, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:sajeco:v:76:y:2008:i:4:p:596-606
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1813-6982.2008.00218.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Kojo Menyah & Yemane Wolde-Rufael, 2012. "Wagner'S Law Revisited: A Note From South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 80(2), pages 200-208, June.
    2. Durevall, Dick & Henrekson, Magnus, 2011. "The futile quest for a grand explanation of long-run government expenditure," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 708-722, August.
    3. Abutu, Usman Ojonugwa & Agbede, Esther Abdul, 2015. "Government Expenditure and Economic Growth in Nigeria: A Cointegration and Error Correction Modelling," MPRA Paper 69676, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Aug 2015.
    4. Mabugu, Ramos & Robichaud, Veronique & Maisonnave, Helene & Chitiga, Margaret, 2013. "Impact of fiscal policy in an intertemporal CGE model for South Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 775-782.
    5. Xolisa Vayi & Andrew Phiri, 2018. "A Sequential Panel Selection Approach to Cointegration Analysis: An Application to Wagner’s Law for South African Provincial Data," Economic Research Guardian, Mutascu Publishing, vol. 8(1), pages 25-39, June.
    6. Mthokozisi Mlilo & Matamela Netshikulwe, 2017. "Re-testing Wagner's Law: Structural breaks and disaggregated data for South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 9(4), pages 49-61.
    7. James Alm & Abel Embaye, 2010. "Explaining The Growth Of Government Spending In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 78(2), pages 152-169, June.
    8. Andrew Phiri, 2017. "Nonlinearities in Wagner's law: further evidence from South Africa," International Journal of Sustainable Economy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(3), pages 231-249.
    9. Cosimo Magazzino, 2012. "The Nexus between Disaggregated Public Spending and GDP in the Euro Area," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(3), pages 2560-2579.
    10. Haider Hassan Itoo & Mohammad Asif & Nazim Ali & Md Abusaad, 2024. "Wagner’s law revisited: investigating the asymmetric relationship between national income and public expenditure in India," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(10), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Selim Demez, 2021. "Validity of Wagner’s Law in EU Member Transition Economies: Panel Causality Analysis," Journal of Economic Policy Researches, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 199-210, July.
    12. Xolisa Vayi & Andrew Phiri, 2018. "A sequential panel selection approach to cointegration analysis: An application to Wagner’s law for South Africa," Working Papers 1831, Department of Economics, Nelson Mandela University.
    13. Alimi, R. Santos, 2013. "Testing Augmented Wagner’s Law for Nigeria Based on Cointegration and Error-Correction Modelling Techniques," MPRA Paper 52319, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Ali, Wajid & Munir, Kashif, 2016. "Testing Wagner versus Keynesian Hypothesis for Pakistan: The Role of Aggregate and Disaggregate Expenditure," MPRA Paper 74570, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Ampah Isaac Kwesi & Kotosz Balázs, 2016. "Wagner versus Keynes: the causal nexus between Government Expenditures and Economic Growth: An Empirical study of Burkina Faso," Journal of Heterodox Economics, Sciendo, vol. 3(2), pages 74-101, December.
    16. Alfred Wu & Mi Lin, 2012. "Determinants of government size: evidence from China," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 255-270, April.
    17. Usman, Ojonugwa & Agbede, Esther Abdul, 2015. "Government Expenditure and Economic Growth in Nigeria: A Cointegration and Error Correction Modeling," MPRA Paper 69814, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Mar 2016.
    18. Irandoust, Manuchehr, 2019. "Wagner on government spending and national income: A new look at an old relationship," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 636-646.
    19. Magazzino, Cosimo, 2010. "Wagner's law and Italian disaggregated public spending: some empirical evidences," MPRA Paper 26662, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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