IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pubfin/v34y2006i4p381-403.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measures of Fiscal Dependency

Author

Listed:
  • Joe Ruggeri

    (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada)

  • Yang Zou

    (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada)

Abstract

There is a concern in many countries that projected increases in the population age sixty-five and older will impose unsustainable burdens on future generations. These fiscal pressures are often expressed with reference to population dependency ratios. The authors argue that concerns about fiscal sustainability may be legitimate, but the use of population dependency ratios as indicators of fiscal pressures is not. They develop an approach to this issue that includes (1) a comprehensive coverage of the public sector, (2) a new methodology for capturing the fiscal effects of population aging, and (3) the integration of demographic, economic, and fiscal variables. This approach is applied to the Canadian fiscal system for the period from 2002-2003 to 2025- 2026. The results indicate that the current fiscal system is sustainable over the long run and does not incorporate intergenerational inequities.

Suggested Citation

  • Joe Ruggeri & Yang Zou, 2006. "Measures of Fiscal Dependency," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(4), pages 381-403, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:34:y:2006:i:4:p:381-403
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142105285576
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1091142105285576
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1091142105285576?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel R. Mullins & Sally Wallace, 1996. "Changing Demographics and State Fiscal Outlook: the Case of Sales Taxes," Public Finance Review, , vol. 24(2), pages 237-262, April.
    2. Herbert C. Northcott, 1994. "Public Perceptions of the Population Aging "Crisis"," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 20(1), pages 66-77, March.
    3. Frank T. Denton & Christine H. Feaver & Byron G. Spencer, 2002. "Alternative Pasts, Possible Futures: A "What If" Study of the Effects of Fertility on the Canadian Population and Labour Force," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 28(3), pages 443-459, September.
    4. Clark, Robert L & Kreps, Juanita & Spengler, Joseph J, 1978. "Economics of Aging: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 919-962, September.
    5. Jagadeesh Gokhale & Bernd Raffelhuschen, 1999. "Population aging and fiscal policy in Europe and the United States," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Q IV, pages 10-20.
    6. Suzanne Kennedy & Chris Matier, "undated". "Comparing the Long-term Fiscal Outlook for Canada and the United States Using Fiscal Gaps," Working Papers-Department of Finance Canada 2003-04, Department of Finance Canada.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Peter S. Yoo, 1994. "The baby boom and international capital flows," Working Papers 1994-031, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    2. Frank T. Denton & Christine H. Feaver & Byron G. Spencer, 1996. "The Future Population of Canada and Its Age Distribution," Independence and Economic Security of the Older Population Research Papers 3, McMaster University.
    3. Frank T. Denton & Byron G. Spencer, 1998. "Economic Costs of Population Aging," Quantitative Studies in Economics and Population Research Reports 339, McMaster University.
    4. Robinson, Chris & McMahon, Pat J., 1981. "Off-Farm Investment and Employment in the Australian Grazing Industry: A Preliminary Analysis," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 49(01), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Holmøy, Erling & Strøm, Birger, 2013. "Computable General Equilibrium Assessments of Fiscal Sustainability in Norway," Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, in: Peter B. Dixon & Dale Jorgenson (ed.), Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 105-158, Elsevier.
    6. Frank T. Denton & Byron G. Spencer, 1999. "Population Aging and Its Economic Costs: A Survey of the Issues and Evidence," Quantitative Studies in Economics and Population Research Reports 340, McMaster University.
    7. Goryunov, Evgeny & Kotlikoff, Lawrence & Sinelnikov-Murylev, Sergey, 2015. "The fiscal gap: An estimate for Russia," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 240-256.
    8. Michael D. Hurd & John B. Shoven, 1983. "The Economic Status of the Elderly," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System, pages 359-398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Joohun Han & Chanjin Chung, 2021. "Impact of Aging and Underemployment on Income Disparity between Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    10. Gerhards, Eva & Goerl, Caroline-Antonia & Thöne, Michael, 2012. "Tragfähigkeit der öffentlichen Finanzen: Eine Bestandsaufnahme national und international praktizierter Methoden der langfristigen Budgetanalyse [Sustainability of Public Finances: A review of inte," FiFo Reports - FiFo-Berichte 14, University of Cologne, FiFo Institute for Public Economics.
    11. Findik Ozlem Alper & Ali Eren Alper & Okyay Ucan, 2016. "The Economic Impacts of Aging Societies," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(3), pages 1225-1238.
    12. Joe Ruggeri & Yang Zou, 2007. "The fiscal burden of rising dependency ratios," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 26(2), pages 185-201, April.
    13. Mariolis, Theodore & Soklis, George & Groza, Heleni, 2010. "An Input-Output Approach to the Estimation of the Maximum Attainable Economic Dependency Ratio in four European Economies," MPRA Paper 22661, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Goryunov, Eugene & Kazakova, Marija & Kotlikoff, Laurence J. & Mamedov, Arseny & Nesterova, Kristina & Nazarov, Vladimir & Grišina, Elena & Trunin, Pavel V. & Shpenev, Alexey, 2013. "Russia's Fiscal Gap," EconStor Preprints 121938, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
      • Eugene Goryunov & Maria Kazakova & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Arseny Mamedov & Kristina Nesterova & Vladimir Nazarov & Elena Grishina & Pavel Trunin & Alexey Shpenev, 2013. "Russia's Fiscal Gap," NBER Working Papers 19608, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Frank T Denton & Christine H Feaver & Byron G Spencer, 2005. "Population Aging in Canada: Software for Exploring the Implications for the Labour Force and the Productive Capacity of the Economy," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 146, McMaster University.
    16. Frank T. Denton & Byron G. Spencer, 1999. "Population Aging and Its Costs: A Survey of the Issues and Evidence," Department of Economics Working Papers 1999-03, McMaster University.
    17. Olivia S. Mitchell & Gary S. Fields, 1981. "The Effects of Pensions and Earnings on Retirement: A Review Essay," NBER Working Papers 0772, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. J.C. Herbert Emery & David Still & Tom Cottrell, 2012. "Can We Avoid a Sick Fiscal Future? The Non-Sustainability of Health-Care Spending on an Aging Population," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 5(31), October.
    19. Livio Di Matteo & Rosanna Di Matteo, 2001. "Public Homecare Expenditures in Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 27(3), pages 313-333, September.
    20. A. D. Woodland, 1987. "Determinants of the Labour Force Status of the Aged," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 63(2), pages 97-114, June.

    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:sae:pubfin:v:34:y:2006:i:4:p:381-403. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.