IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eco/journ1/2015-01-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Fiscal Illusion Impact Budget Policy? A Panel Data Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Tchouassi G rard

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Economic and Management, University of Yaound II-Soa, Po Box 18 Soa- Yaound , Cameroon)

  • Ngwen Ngangu

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Economic and Management, University of Yaound II-Soa, Po Box 18 Soa Yaound , Cameroon.)

Abstract

This study employs a panel data analysis to examine the relationship between fiscal illusion and budget policy of 15 African countries over the period between 1980 and 2012. The empirical results of the test of Hausman suggest the use of fixed effects estimators. But to check the robustness of the empirical results in different econometric specifications we have also conducted many regressions using alternative estimation methods (such as random effect and population averaged models). Empirical results obtained show a positive and significant association between fiscal illusion and public deficit. An increasing of 1 percent of fiscal freedom leads respectively to, ceteris paribus, an augmentation of 0.27, 0.24 and 0.3 percent of budget deficit in the fixed, random and population method. As a conclusion, fiscal illusion affects budget policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Tchouassi G rard & Ngwen Ngangu, 2015. "Does Fiscal Illusion Impact Budget Policy? A Panel Data Analysis," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(1), pages 240-248.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2015-01-19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/1049/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/download/1049/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec..
    2. West, E G, 1975. "Public Debt Burden and Cost Theory," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 13(2), pages 179-190, June.
    3. Saez, Emmanuel, 2013. "Optimal progressive capital income taxes in the infinite horizon model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 61-74.
    4. Barro, Robert J, 1989. "The Ricardian Approach to Budget Deficits," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 37-54, Spring.
    5. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2014. "Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 230-271, February.
    6. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00944873 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Alesina, Alberto & Perotti, Roberto, 1996. "Fiscal Discipline and the Budget Process," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 401-407, May.
    8. Lawrence Kenny, 1978. "The collective allocation of commodities in a democratic society: a generalization," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 117-120, September.
    9. Meltzer, Allan H & Richard, Scott F, 1981. "A Rational Theory of the Size of Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 914-927, October.
    10. William Easterly & Luis Servén, 2003. "The Limits of Stabilization : Infrastructure, Public Deficits, and Growth in Latin America," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14456.
    11. Anthony Downs, 1957. "An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(2), pages 135-135.
    12. International Monetary Fund, 2010. "A Historical Public Debt Database," IMF Working Papers 2010/245, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Seater, John J, 1993. "Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 142-190, March.
    14. William Easterly, 1999. "When is fiscal adjustment an illusion?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 14(28), pages 56-86.
    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. Tchouassi, Gérard & Nkabkob Londjou, Thio'mi, 2022. "Budgetary principles in the Cemac zone : effectiveness or efficiency," MPRA Paper 113071, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Sakiru Adebola Solarin & Olabisi Olabode Eric, 2015. "Impact of Economic Globalization on Human Capital: Evidence from Nigerian Economy," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(3), pages 786-789.
    2. Reiner Eichenberger & David Stadelmann, 2009. "Consequences of Debt Capitalization: Property Ownership and Debt/Tax Choice," CREMA Working Paper Series 2009-08, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    3. Hayo, Bernd & Neumeier, Florian, 2017. "The (In)validity of the Ricardian equivalence theorem–findings from a representative German population survey," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 162-174.
    4. Brittle, Shane, 2009. "Ricardian Equivalence and the Efficacy of Fiscal Policy in Australia," Economics Working Papers wp09-10, School of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
    5. Selahattin Dibooglu, 1997. "Accounting for US current account deficits: an empirical investigation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(6), pages 787-793.
    6. Bertocco Giancarlo & Fanelli Luca & Paruolo Paolo, 2002. "On the determinants of inflation in Italy: evidence of cost-push effects before the European Monetary Union," Economics and Quantitative Methods qf0223, Department of Economics, University of Insubria.
    7. Nunnari, Salvatore & Zapal, Jan, 2017. "A Model of Focusing in Political Choice," CEPR Discussion Papers 12407, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. George W. Evans & Seppo Honkapohja & Kaushik Mitra, 2012. "Does Ricardian Equivalence Hold When Expectations Are Not Rational?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(7), pages 1259-1283, October.
    9. Jose Tavares & Rossen Valkanov, 2001. "The neglected effect of fiscal policy on stock and bond returns," Nova SBE Working Paper Series wp413, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics.
    10. James Feyrer & Jay Shambaugh, 2012. "Global Savings and Global Investment: The Transmission of Identified Fiscal Shocks," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 95-114, May.
    11. George A. Akerlof, 2007. "The Missing Motivation in Macroeconomics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(1), pages 5-36, March.
    12. Westerlund, Joakim & Mahdavi, Saeid & Firoozi, Fathali, 2011. "The tax-spending nexus: Evidence from a panel of US state-local governments," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 885-890, May.
    13. Bernasconi, Michele & Kirchkamp, Oliver & Paruolo, Paolo, 2009. "Do fiscal variables affect fiscal expectations? Experiments with real world and lab data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(1-2), pages 253-265, May.
    14. Tomas Wroblowsky, 2007. "Explaining the Variability of Debt Neutrality Tests Results: A Meta-Analysis of Ricardian Equivalence," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 5(1), pages 7-24.
    15. George Tridimas & Stanley L. Winer, 2004. "A Contribution to the Political Economy of Government Size: 'Demand', 'Supply' and 'Political Influence'," Carleton Economic Papers 04-04, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
    16. Brunila, Anne, 1996. "Fiscal policy and private consumption : Saving decisions : Evidence from Finland," Research Discussion Papers 28/1996, Bank of Finland.
    17. Gianluigi Giorgioni & Ken Holden, 2003. "Ricardian equivalence, expansionary fiscal contraction and the stock market: a VECM approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(12), pages 1435-1443.
    18. Ahmad Baharumshah & Evan Lau & Ahmed Khalid, 2006. "Testing Twin Deficits Hypothesis using VARs and Variance Decomposition," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 331-354.
    19. Domenech, Rafael & Taguas, David & Varela, Juan, 2000. "The effects of budget deficit on national saving in the OECD," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 377-383, December.
    20. Richard E. Wagner, 2019. "American Democracy and the Problem of Fiscal Deficits," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 15(2), pages 199-216, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal illusion; Public deficit; Public debt; Government policy; Panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    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:eco:journ1:2015-01-19. 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: Ilhan Ozturk (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.econjournals.com .

    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.