IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tei/journl/v9y2016i3p55-62.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The twin deficits hypothesis: Evidence from Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Bernardin Senadza

    (Department of Economics, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG57, Legon, Accra, Ghana)

  • Godson Korbla Aloryito

    (Department of Economics, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG57, Legon, Accra, Ghana)

Abstract

Purpose – This paper investigates the twin deficit hypothesis for Ghana in view of the persistent co-movement between the budget deficit (BD) and current account deficit (CAD) over the past three decades. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses annual data for the period 1980-2014 and ascertains whether there is long-run association between the budget and current account deficits using the Johansen Cointegration test. The Error Correction Model is estimated to check stability of the long-run association between the two deficits. A Granger causality test is performed to determine the direction of causality between the two variables. Findings – The results confirm the existence of long-run equilibrium relationship between the budget and current account balances. The error correction model finds an insignificant effect of the BD on the CAD both in the short and long runs. The ECM result was however significant for both the long run and short run regarding the effect of CAD on BD even as the adjustment parameter suggests that 33 percent of the disequilibrium in budget balance in the previous period is corrected in the current period. Granger causality results find support for the reverse causality argument, thereby rejecting the twin-deficits hypothesis for Ghana. Research limitations/implications – For lack of consistent data variables such as exchange rate and interest rate were not included in the study. Originality/value – The findings lend support to the reverse causality argument that says that causality runs from the current account deficit to the budget deficit.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernardin Senadza & Godson Korbla Aloryito, 2016. "The twin deficits hypothesis: Evidence from Ghana," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 9(3), pages 55-62, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:tei:journl:v:9:y:2016:i:3:p:55-62
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ijbesar.af.duth.gr/docs/volume9_issue3/twin_deficits_hypothesis_ghana.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ijbesar.af.duth.gr/volume9_issue3.php
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eugene Kouassi & Mbodja Mougoué & Kern O. Kymn, 2004. "Causality tests of the relationship between the twin deficits," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 503-525, September.
    2. 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..
    3. Enders, Walter & Lee, Bong-Soo, 1990. "Current Account and Budget Deficits: Twins or Distant Cousins?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(3), pages 373-381, August.
    4. Cosimo Magazzino, 2012. "Fiscal Policy, Consumption and Current Account in the European Countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(2), pages 1330-1344.
    5. Leonardo Bartolini & Amartya Lahiri, 2006. "Twin deficits, twenty years later," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 12(Oct).
    6. Tuck Cheong Tang, 2013. "Twin Deficits: An Alternative Framework from General Equilibrium Perspective with U.S. Results," Monash Economics Working Papers 41-13, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    7. Kim, Soyoung & Roubini, Nouriel, 2008. "Twin deficit or twin divergence? Fiscal policy, current account, and real exchange rate in the U.S," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 362-383, March.
    8. Granger, C W J, 1969. "Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(3), pages 424-438, July.
    9. Kahnim Farajova, 2011. "Budget Deficit and Macroeconomics Fundamentals: The case of Azerbaijan," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 4(2), pages 143-158, August.
    10. Gonzalo, Jesus, 1994. "Five alternative methods of estimating long-run equilibrium relationships," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1-2), pages 203-233.
    11. Jacob A. Frenkel, 1988. "International Aspects of Fiscal Policies," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number fren88-1, June.
    12. Farzane Bagheri & Salma Keshtkaran, 2012. "Testing for Twin Deficits and Ricardian Equivalence Hypotheses: Evidence from Iran," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 3(3), pages 77-84.
    13. M. Faizul Islam, 1998. "Brazil's twin deficits: An empirical examination," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 26(2), pages 121-128, June.
    14. E Lau & S Abu Mansor & C-H Puah, 2010. "Revival of the Twin Deficits in Asian Crisis-affected Countries," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 15(1), pages 29-54, March.
    15. Ahmad Zubaidi Baharumshah & Evan Lau, 2007. "Dynamics of fiscal and current account deficits in Thailand: an empirical investigation," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(6), pages 454-475, November.
    16. Sylvia Kaufmann & Georg Winckler & Johann Scharler, 2002. "The Austrian current account deficit: Driven by twin deficits or by intertemporal expenditure allocation?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 529-542.
    17. Argimon, Isabel & Roldan, JoseMaria, 1994. "Saving, investment and international capital mobility in EC countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 59-67, January.
    18. Sobrino, César R, 2013. "The twin deficits hypothesis and reverse causality: A short-run analysis of Peru," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Universidad ESAN, vol. 18(34), pages 9-15.
    19. Ahmed M. Khalid & Teo Wee Guan, 1999. "Causality tests of budget and current account deficits: Cross-country comparisons," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 389-402.
    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. Idrys Fransmel Okombi, 2020. "Twin Deficits in Sub-Saharan African Countries: Evidence through debt," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(3), pages 2550-2564.
    2. Mindaugas Butkus & Janina Seputiene, 2018. "Growth Effect of Public Debt: The Role of Government Effectiveness and Trade Balance," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-27, November.
    3. Edmund Ayesu & John O. Olaomi, 2021. "The Relationship Between Fiscal Deficit and Current Account Deficit in the Case of the West African Monetary Zone: A Bivariate DSEM/RDSEM Approach," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 11(7), pages 575-590, July.
    4. Özcan Karahan, 2020. "Sustainability of Current Account Deficit in Turkey," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 13(2), pages 62-69, September.
    5. Brito Romero, Marycris & Peguero, Anadel G. & Cruz-Rodríguez, Alexis, 2020. "¿Hay evidencias de déficits gemelos en la economía dominicana? [Is there evidence of twin deficits in the Dominican economy?]," MPRA Paper 100938, 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. Xie, Zixiong & Chen, Shyh-Wei, 2014. "Untangling the causal relationship between government budget and current account deficits in OECD countries: Evidence from bootstrap panel Granger causality," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 95-104.
    2. Evan Lau & Tuck Cheong Tang, 2009. "Twin deficits in Cambodia: An Empirical Study," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(4), pages 2783-2794.
    3. E Lau & S Abu Mansor & C-H Puah, 2010. "Revival of the Twin Deficits in Asian Crisis-affected Countries," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 15(1), pages 29-54, March.
    4. Eregha, Perekunah B. & Aworinde, Olalekan B. & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Modeling twin deficit hypothesis with oil price volatility in African oil-producing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Al-Jahwari, Salim Ahmed Said, 2021. "Does the Twin-Deficits doctrine apply to the Gulf Cooperation Council? A dynamic panel VAR-X model approach," MPRA Paper 111232, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Francesco Forte & Cosimo Magazzino, 2013. "Twin Deficits in the European Countries," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 19(3), pages 289-310, August.
    7. Francesco Forte & Cosimo Magazzino, 2015. "Ricardian equivalence and twin deficits hypotheses in the euro area," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 17(2), pages 148-166, October.
    8. Kalou, Sofia & Paleologou, Suzanna-Maria, 2012. "The twin deficits hypothesis: Revisiting an EMU country," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 230-241.
    9. Samia OMRANE BELGUITH, 2016. "Twin deficit in MENA countries: an empirical investigation," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 19(60), pages 123-146, June.
    10. Ergin Akalpler & Yohanna Panshak, 2019. "Dynamic relationship between budget deficit and current account deficit in the light of Nigerian empirical application," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 159-179, June.
    11. Algieri, Bernardina, 2013. "An empirical analysis of the nexus between external balance and government budget balance: The case of the GIIPS countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 233-253.
    12. Manamba Epaphra, 0. "The Twin Deficits Hypothesis: An Empirical Analysis for Tanzania," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 20(65), pages 2-34, September.
    13. Konstantinos P. Panousis & Minoas Koukouritakis, 2020. "Twin Deficits: Evidence From Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(5), pages 332-338, September.
    14. Puah, Chin-Hong & Lau, Evan & Tan, Kim Lee, 2006. "Budget-current account deficits nexus in Malaysia," MPRA Paper 37677, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Cosimo Magazzino, 2021. "The twin deficits in the ASEAN countries," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 227-248, April.
    16. Evan Lau & Tuck Cheong Tang, 2009. "Twin deficits in Cambodia: Are there Reasons for Concern? An Empirical Study," Monash Economics Working Papers 11-09, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    17. Eduardo Garzón Espinosa & Bibiana Medialdea García & Esteban Cruz Hidalgo, 2021. "Fiscal Policy Approaches: An Inquiring Look From The Modern Monetary Theory," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 999-1022, October.
    18. Hany Eldemerdash & Hugh Metcalf & Sara Maioli, 2014. "Twin deficits: new evidence from a developing (oil vs. non-oil) countries’ perspective," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 825-851, November.
    19. Nazia Abdul Rehman & Musarrat Shamshir & Khurram Shakir, 2020. "Correlation of Macroeconomic Variables with Twin Deficit in Pakistan," IBT Journal of Business Studies (JBS), Ilma University, Faculty of Management Science, vol. 16(1), pages 16-11.
    20. Ahmad Zubaidi Baharumshah & Evan Lau, 2005. "Budget and Current Account Deficits in SEACEN Countries: Evidence Based on the Panel Approach," International Finance 0504002, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Twin deficits hypothesis; budget deficit; current account deficit; Granger causality; Ghana;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • H6 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt

    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:tei:journl:v:9:y:2016:i:3:p:55-62. 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: Kostas Stergidis (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dbikagr.html .

    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.