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Sizing the government

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  • Kristof Witte
  • Wim Moesen

Abstract

Is there such a thing as an optimal government size? We investigate by the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) the so-called `Armey curve' which claims an inverted U-shaped relationship between government size and economic performance. The DEA scores are linked to control variables as initial per capita income, openness, population density, urbanization, country size and family size. For 23 OECD-countries we estimate the country specific efficiency scores, which reveal the extent to which a country uses excess public resources to achieve the observed growth rate of GDP.
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  • Kristof Witte & Wim Moesen, 2010. "Sizing the government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 39-55, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:145:y:2010:i:1:p:39-55
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-009-9527-7
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    Cited by:

    1. José Alves, 2021. "The Sinful Side of Taxation: Is it Possible to Satisfy the Government Hunger for Revenues While Promoting Economic Growth?," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 237(2), pages 85-109, June.
    2. 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.
    3. Tommaso Agasisti & Giuseppe Munda, 2017. "Efficiency of investment in compulsory education: An Overview of Methodological Approaches," JRC Research Reports JRC106681, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Que, Wei & Zhang, Yabin & Schulze, Günther, 2019. "Is public spending behavior important for Chinese official promotion? Evidence from city-level," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 403-417.
    5. Facchini, François & Melki, Mickaël, 2013. "Efficient government size: France in the 20th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-14.
    6. Menescal, Lucas & Alves, José, 2024. "Optimal threshold taxation: An empirical investigation for developing economies," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    7. Nazlı KEYİFLİ & Sacit Hadi AKDEDE, 2020. "Political Polarization and Size of Government," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 28(44).
    8. Mroczek Teresa & Skica Tomasz & Rodzinka Jacek, 2018. "Application of Probabilistic Inference in Defining Impact of the General Government Sector’s Size on the Economy and Determining the Size of the Sector by the Economy in the EU," Financial Internet Quarterly (formerly e-Finanse), Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, March.
    9. Robert Pater & Tomasz Skica, 2014. "The productivity of public and private sector in Poland," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 10(2), pages 120-137, July.
    10. 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.
    11. Petr Zimčík, 2016. "Velikost veřejného sektoru a ekonomický růst [The Scope of Government and Economic Growth]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2016(4), pages 439-450.
    12. Akram, Vaseem & Rath, Badri Narayan, 2020. "Optimum government size and economic growth in case of Indian states: Evidence from panel threshold model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 151-162.
    13. Muraközy, László, 2011. "Összefonódó költségvetési kihívások a 21. század Európájában [Interlocking budget challenges in 21st century Europe]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 592-618.
    14. Alfred Wu & Mi Lin, 2012. "Determinants of government size: evidence from China," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 255-270, April.
    15. Huguenin, Jean-Marc, 2015. "Adjusting for the environment in DEA: A comparison of alternative models based on empirical data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 41-54.
    16. Afrasiabi, Ahmadreza & Chalmardi, Mazyar Kaboli & Balezentis, Tomas, 2022. "A novel hybrid evaluation framework for public organizations based on employees’ performance factors," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    17. Facchini, François & Melki, Mickaël, 2013. "Efficient government size: France in the 20th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-14.
    18. Trofimov, Ivan D., 2020. "Health Care Spending and Economic Growth: Armey-Rahn Curve in a Panel of European Economies," MPRA Paper 106705, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Cambini, Carlo & Croce, Annalisa & Fumagalli, Elena, 2014. "Output-based incentive regulation in electricity distribution: Evidence from Italy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 205-216.
    20. E. Marrocu & R. Paci, 2024. "The influence of regional contextual factors on public university efficiency in Italy," Working Paper CRENoS 202424, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    21. Hajamini, Mehdi & Falahi, Mohammad Ali, 2012. "Economic growth and the optimum size of government in 15 European countries: A threshold panel approach," MPRA Paper 39616, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. J. Stephen Ferris, 2010. "Fiscal Policy from a Public Choice Perspective," Carleton Economic Papers 10-10, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
    23. Gabriel Villa & Sebastián Lozano, 2016. "DEA with non-monotonic variables. Application to EU governments’ macroeconomic efficiency," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 67(12), pages 1510-1523, December.
    24. Shanaka Herath, 2012. "Size Of Government And Economic Growth: A Nonlinear Analysis," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(194), pages 7-30, July - Se.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Data envelopment analysis; Government size; Public sector performance; Armey-curve; H10; H21; H31;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation

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