IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jeczfn/v111y2014i1p29-53.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal size of the government: the role of the elasticity of substitution

Author

Listed:
  • Manuel Gómez

Abstract

This paper analyzes the optimal fiscal policy in an endogenous growth model with productive public services. Government expenditure, which may be subject to different degrees of congestion, is financed by distortionary income taxation. The standard result on the equality between the growth-maximizing, welfare-maximizing and first-best income tax rates holds if and only if production is Cobb–Douglas or there is proportional congestion. With non-proportional (or in the absence of) congestion, the first-best income tax is lower than the (second-best) welfare-maximizing income tax which, in turn, is lower than the growth-maximizing income tax if the elasticity of substitution is below unity. Under mild conditions these relations are reversed if the elasticity of substitution is above unity. Intuition on these results is also provided. Copyright Springer-Verlag Wien 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Manuel Gómez, 2014. "Optimal size of the government: the role of the elasticity of substitution," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 29-53, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:111:y:2014:i:1:p:29-53
    DOI: 10.1007/s00712-012-0317-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00712-012-0317-1
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00712-012-0317-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Turnovsky, Stephen J, 1996. "Fiscal Policy, Adjustment Costs, and Endogenous Growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 361-381, July.
    2. Florian Misch & Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller, 2013. "Growth and Welfare Maximization in Models of Public Finance and Endogenous Growth," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 15(6), pages 939-967, December.
    3. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Swaroop, Vinaya & Heng-fu, Zou, 1996. "The composition of public expenditure and economic growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2-3), pages 313-344, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Alberto Bucci, 2012. "Public Capital, Private Capital and Economic Growth," Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, Vita e Pensiero, Pubblicazioni dell'Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, vol. 120(2), pages 149-180.
    6. Xue, Jianpo & Yip, Chong K., 2012. "Factor Substitution And Economic Growth: A Unified Approach," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 625-656, September.
    7. Irmen Andreas & Klump Rainer, 2009. "Factor Substitution, Income Distribution and Growth in a Generalized Neoclassical Model," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 10(4), pages 464-479, December.
    8. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-I-Martin, 1992. "Public Finance in Models of Economic Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(4), pages 645-661.
    9. Azariadis, Costas, 1996. "The Economics of Poverty Traps: Part One: Complete Markets," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 449-496, December.
    10. Olivier de La Grandville & Rainer Klump, 2000. "Economic Growth and the Elasticity of Substitution: Two Theorems and Some Suggestions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 282-291, March.
    11. Gómez, Manuel A., 2004. "Optimal Fiscal Policy In A Growing Economy With Public Capital," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 419-435, September.
    12. Alberto Bucci & Chiara Del Bo, 2012. "On the interaction between public and private capital in economic growth," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 106(2), pages 133-152, June.
    13. Guo, Jang-Ting & Lansing, Kevin J., 2009. "Capital-labor substitution and equilibrium indeterminacy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 1991-2000, December.
    14. 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.
    15. Turnovsky, Stephen J., 2002. "Intertemporal and intratemporal substitution, and the speed of convergence in the neoclassical growth model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 26(9-10), pages 1765-1785, August.
    16. Wong, Tsz-Nga & Yip, Chong K., 2010. "Indeterminacy and the elasticity of substitution in one-sector models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 623-635, April.
    17. Palivos, Theodore & Karagiannis, Giannis, 2010. "The Elasticity Of Substitution As An Engine Of Growth," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(5), pages 617-628, November.
    18. repec:bla:germec:v:10:y:2009:i::p:464-479 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Oliver J. Blanchard, 1997. "The Medium Run," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 28(2), pages 89-158.
    20. Turnovsky, Stephen J., 1997. "Fiscal Policy In A Growing Economy With Public Capital," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 615-639, September.
    21. repec:bla:econom:v:67:y:2000:i:267:p:325-46 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Ge Jin & Bing Zhang, 2024. "Optimal fiscal policy with a balanced-budget restriction: revisiting Chamley and Barro," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(2), pages 454-485, April.
    2. Manuel Gómez, 2016. "Factor substitution is an engine of growth in a model with productive public expenditure," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 37-48, January.
    3. Ge Jin, 2022. "Using the primal approach to derive the second‐best rules for different public services in a general competitive growth model," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(6), pages 1564-1590, December.

    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. Manuel Gómez, 2016. "Factor substitution is an engine of growth in a model with productive public expenditure," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 37-48, January.
    2. Rainer Klump & Peter McAdam & Alpo Willman, 2012. "The Normalized Ces Production Function: Theory And Empirics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 769-799, December.
    3. Alberto Bucci & Chiara Del Bo, 2012. "On the interaction between public and private capital in economic growth," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 106(2), pages 133-152, June.
    4. Oliviero A. Carboni & Paolo Russu, 2013. "A Model of Economic Growth with Public Finance: Dynamics and Analytic Solution," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 3(1), pages 1-13.
    5. Xue, Jianpo & Yip, Chong K., 2012. "Factor Substitution And Economic Growth: A Unified Approach," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 625-656, September.
    6. Jianpo Xue & Chong K. Yip, 2015. "Balanced-Budget Rules, Elasticity of Substitution, and Macroeconomic (In)Stability," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(2), pages 196-218, April.
    7. Andreas Irmen & Johanna Kuehnel, 2009. "Productive Government Expenditure And Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 692-733, September.
    8. 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.
    9. Florian Misch & Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller, 2013. "Growth and Welfare Maximization in Models of Public Finance and Endogenous Growth," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 15(6), pages 939-967, December.
    10. Manuel A. Gómez, 2020. "Factor substitution, long‐run growth, and speed of convergence in the one‐sector convex endogenous‐growth model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 2-21, February.
    11. Dioikitopoulos, Evangelos V. & Kalyvitis, Sarantis, 2008. "Public capital maintenance and congestion: Long-run growth and fiscal policies," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 3760-3779, December.
    12. Pierre‐Richard Agénor, 2011. "Schooling and Public Capital in a Model of Endogenous Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 78(309), pages 108-132, January.
    13. Pula Lekë & Elshani Alban, 2018. "Role of Public Expenditure in Economic Growth: Econometric Evidence from Kosovo 2002–2015," Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 74-87, June.
    14. Lai, Ching-Chong & Liao, Chih-Hsing, 2012. "Optimal nonlinear income taxation with productive government expenditure," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 66-77.
    15. Shu‐Hua Chen & Jang‐Ting Guo, 2018. "On Indeterminacy and Growth under Progressive Taxation and Utility‐Generating Government Spending," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 533-543, August.
    16. 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.
    17. Ardjouma Sombie, 2023. "An empirical analysis using new instrumental variable methods of distributional effects of corruption on public expenditures in developing countries," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1-26, March.
    18. Christos Kollias & Suzanna-Maria Paleologou, 2015. "Defence And Non-Defence Spending In The Usa: Stimuli To Economic Growth? Comparative Findings From A Semiparametric Approach," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(4), pages 359-370, October.
    19. Jakub Growiec & Peter McAdam & Jakub Mućk, 2021. "On the Optimal Labor Income Share," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 17(70), pages 1-52, October.
    20. Carboni, Oliviero & Russu, Paolo, 2011. "The Conditions for a Balanced Growth in a Model with Public Finance: an Analytic Solution," MPRA Paper 36600, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Optimal policy; Public expenditure; Elasticity of substitution; O41; E21;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

    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:kap:jeczfn:v:111:y:2014:i:1:p:29-53. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.