IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/ngooec/v70y2024i4p1-11n1001.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic Inequality and the Size of Government Expenditure Shocks: An Empirical Exercise

Author

Listed:
  • Senekovič Marko

    (University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business, Slovenia)

Abstract

Empirical literature explains the heterogeneity of fiscal multiplier estimates through the analysis of various cyclical and structural determinants of economies, with economic inequality, as one of the key structural characteristics, receiving relatively little attention so far. In this study, using a wide sample of countries and applying the vector autoregression methodology, we first estimated fiscal multipliers and the impact of fiscal stimuli on the dynamics of the price level. The findings indicate that the estimated fiscal multipliers are mostly positive, and fiscal stimuli tend to produce an inflationary effect. Subsequently, we examined the variability in the size of fiscal multipliers in relation to various indicators of income and wealth inequality. The key findings of this study reveal that as economic inequality increases, particularly in the context of income disparities, the size of fiscal multipliers also rises. This insight is particularly important for policymakers in designing appropriate fiscal measures in an evolving macroeconomic environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Senekovič Marko, 2024. "Economic Inequality and the Size of Government Expenditure Shocks: An Empirical Exercise," Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, Sciendo, vol. 70(4), pages 1-11.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:ngooec:v:70:y:2024:i:4:p:1-11:n:1001
    DOI: 10.2478/ngoe-2024-0019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/ngoe-2024-0019
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/ngoe-2024-0019?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. Davide Furceri & Jun Ge & Prakash Loungani & Giovanni Melina, 2022. "The distributional effects of government spending shocks in developing economies," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1574-1599, August.
    2. Luca Agnello & Ricardo M. Sousa, 2012. "Fiscall Adjustments and Income Inequality:A First Assessment," NIPE Working Papers 19/2012, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    3. Miranda-Pinto, Jorge & Murphy, Daniel & Walsh, Kieran James & Young, Eric R., 2023. "Saving constraints, inequality, and the credit market response to fiscal stimulus," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Philipp Heimberger, 2020. "The dynamic effects of fiscal consolidation episodes on income inequality: evidence for 17 OECD countries over 1978–2013," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 53-81, February.
    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. Dante Souza Cardoso & Laura Barbosa de Carvalho, 2023. "Effects of fiscal consolidation on income inequality: narrative evidence from South America," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 1177-1218, March.
    2. Konstantinou, Panagiotis Th., 2024. "Fiscal consolidations and income inequality: Evaluating the evidence," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    3. Agnello, Luca & Mallick, Sushanta K. & Sousa, Ricardo M., 2012. "Financial reforms and income inequality," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 583-587.
    4. Sushanta K. Mallick & Ricardo M. Sousa, 2012. "Is Technology Factor-Neutral? Evidence from the US Manufacturing Sector," NIPE Working Papers 26/2012, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    5. Durongkaveroj, Wannaphong, 2022. "Structural Transformation, Income Inequality and Government Expenditure: Evidence from International Panel Data," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(3), pages 29-44.
    6. Georgia Kaplanoglou & Vassilis T. Rapanos & Ioanna C. Bardakas, 2015. "Does Fairness Matter for the Success of Fiscal Consolidation?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 197-219, May.
    7. Philipp Heimberger, 2018. "The Dynamic Effects of Fiscal Consolidation Episodes on Income Inequality," wiiw Working Papers 147, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    8. Philipp Heimberger, 2020. "The dynamic effects of fiscal consolidation episodes on income inequality: evidence for 17 OECD countries over 1978–2013," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 53-81, February.
    9. Oueslati, Walid & Zipperer, Vera & Rousselière, Damien & Dimitropoulos, Alexandros, 2017. "Energy taxes, reforms and income inequality: An empirical cross-country analysis," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 80-95.
    10. Jochimsen Beate & Raffer Christian, 2018. "Herausforderungen bei der Messung von Wohlfahrt," Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 67(1), pages 63-100, May.
    11. Alpino, Matteo & Asatryan, Zareh & Blesse, Sebastian & Wehrhöfer, Nils, 2022. "Austerity and distributional policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 112-127.
    12. Abdulaleem Isiaka & Alexander Mihailov & Giovanni Razzi, 2022. "Distributional Effects of Public Spending and Tax Shocks in Middle-Income Countries: A Panel VAR Approach," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2022-09, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    13. Martin Larch & Philipp Mohl, 2019. "Mitigating the Gap between the Rich & the Poor: An Empirical Assessment of Key Trends & Drivers of Redistribution," European Economy - Discussion Papers 105, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    14. Keneck-Massil, Joseph & Nomo-Beyala, Clery & Owoundi, Ferdinand, 2021. "The corruption and income inequality puzzle: Does political power distribution matter?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    15. Dante Cardoso & Laura Carvalho & Gilberto Tadeu Lima & Luiza Nassif-Pires & Fernando Rugitsky & Marina Sanches, 2023. "The Multiplier Effects of Government Expenditures on Social Protection: A Multi-Country Analysis," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2023_11, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    16. Almas Heshmati & Jungsuk Kim & Jacob Wood, 2019. "A Survey of Inclusive Growth Policy," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-18, July.
    17. Luca Agnello & Vitor Castro & João Tovar Jalles & Ricardo M. Sousa, 2015. "Do debt crises boost financial reforms?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 356-360, March.
    18. Chenge Zhu & Guang Yang & Kenan An & Jiping Huang, 2014. "The Leverage Effect on Wealth Distribution in a Controllable Laboratory Stock Market," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-10, June.
    19. Gokan, Yoichi & Turnovsky, Stephen J., 2023. "Taylor rules: Consequences for wealth and income inequality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    20. Martin Larch & Philipp Mohl, 2020. "Mitigating the Gap Between the Rich and the Poor: Key Trends and Drivers of Redistribution," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(4), pages 245-255, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal multiplier; Income inequality; Wealth inequality; VAR;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

    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:vrs:ngooec:v:70:y:2024:i:4:p:1-11:n:1001. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.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.