IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/fistud/v30y2009i1p103-133.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Borrowing to Finance Public Investment? The ‘Golden Rule of Public Finance’ Reconsidered in an Endogenous Growth Setting

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandru Minea
  • Patrick Villieu

Abstract

In this paper, we look for long‐run and short‐run effects of fiscal deficits on economic growth and welfare in a standard endogenous growth model. We show that, under very general hypotheses, the ‘golden rule of public finance’, which allows a government to run public‐investment‐oriented fiscal deficits, leads to a lower balanced‐growth path in the long run, and eventually in the short run, compared with balanced‐budget rules. Welfare effects are more difficult to assess, and depend on the form of the utility function. Our model shows that debt rules such as the golden rule may improve (if the consumption elasticity of substitution is ‘low’) or weaken (if the consumption elasticity of substitution is ‘high’) intertemporal welfare. Consequently, a balanced‐budget rule does not necessarily dominate debt rules from the point of view of welfare, while it does from the point of view of long‐run economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandru Minea & Patrick Villieu, 2009. "Borrowing to Finance Public Investment? The ‘Golden Rule of Public Finance’ Reconsidered in an Endogenous Growth Setting," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 103-133, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:fistud:v:30:y:2009:i:1:p:103-133
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-5890.2009.00091.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2009.00091.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2009.00091.x?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Franco Modigliani & Jean Paul Fitoussi & Beniamino Moro & Denis Snower & Robert Solo & Alfred Steinherr & Paolo Sylos Labini, 1999. "An Economist’s Manifesto on Unemployment in the European Union," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 8(2), pages 1-1, December.
    2. Blanchard, Olivier & Giavazzi, Francesco, 2004. "Improving the SGP Through a Proper Accounting of Public Investment," CEPR Discussion Papers 4220, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    4. Jakob Haan & Jan Sturm & Bernd Sikken, 1996. "Government capital formation: Explaining the decline," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 132(1), pages 55-74, March.
    5. Jerome Creel & Paola Monperrus-Veroni & Francesco Saraceno, 2007. "Has the Golden Rule of Public Finance Made a Difference in the UK ?," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2007-13, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    6. Futagami, Koichi & Shibata, Akihisa, 1998. "Budget Deficits and Economic Growth," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 53(3-4), pages 331-354.
      • Futagami, Koichi & 二神, 孝一 & フタガミ, コウイチ & Shibata, Akihisa & 柴田, 章久 & シバタ, アキヒサ, 2003. "Budget Deficits and Economic Growth," Discussion Paper 133, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. 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.
    8. Jean-Paul Fitoussi & Jérôme Creel, 2002. "How to reform the European Central Bank," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03426609, HAL.
    9. Ghosh, Sugata & Mourmouras, Iannis A., 2004. "Endogenous growth, welfare and budgetary regimes," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 623-635, December.
    10. Fabrizio Balassone & Daniele Franco, 2000. "Public investment, the Stability Pact and the ‘golden rule’," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 207-229, June.
    11. Alberto Alesina & Roberto Perotti, 1997. "Fiscal Adjustments in OECD Countries: Composition and Macroeconomic Effects," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 44(2), pages 210-248, June.
    12. 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.
    13. Lane, Philip R., 2003. "The cyclical behaviour of fiscal policy: evidence from the OECD," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 2661-2675, December.
    14. Aaron Mehrotra & Timo Välilä, 2006. "Public Investment in Europe: Evolution and Determinants in perspective," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 27(4), pages 443-471, December.
    15. Greiner, Alfred & Semmler, Willi, 2000. "Endogenous Growth, Government Debt and Budgetary Regimes," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 363-384, July.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1181 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Friedrich Heinemann, 2006. "Factor mobility, government debt and the decline in public investment," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 11-26, April.
    18. repec:bla:scandj:v:95:y:1993:i:4:p:607-25 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/1181 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Alexandru Minea & Patrick Villieu, 2006. "Long-Run Monetary and Fiscal Policy Trade-Off in an Endogenous Growth Model with Transaction Costs," Post-Print halshs-00261119, HAL.
    2. Juraj Stančík & Timo Välilä, 2012. "Changes in the fiscal stance and the composition of public spending," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 199-217, August.
    3. Eleftherios Goulas & Athina Zervoyianni, 2012. "Growth, Deficits and Uncertainty in a Panel of 28 Countries," Working Paper series 52_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    4. Hans Pitlik, 2010. "Fiscal Governance and Government Investment in Europe since the 1990s," WIFO Working Papers 370, WIFO.
    5. Hans Pitlik & Michael Klien & Stefan Schiman, 2017. "Stabilitätskonforme Berücksichtigung nachhaltiger öffentlicher Investitionen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60595.
    6. Suescun, Rodrigo, 2005. "Fiscal space for investment in infrastructure in Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3629, The World Bank.
    7. Moulaye Bamba & Jean-Louis Combes & Alexandru Minea, 2020. "The effects of fiscal consolidations on the composition of government spending," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(14), pages 1517-1532, March.
    8. Salma Slimani, 2016. "Threshold Effects of Fiscal Policy on Economic Activity in Developing Countries," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 6(3), pages 20-37, March.
    9. Jerome Creel & Gwenaelle Poilon, 2008. "Is public capital productive in Europe?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(6), pages 673-691.
    10. Richard Kneller & Norman Gemmell, 2002. "Fiscal Policy, Growth and Convergence in Europe," European Economy Group Working Papers 14, European Economy Group.
    11. Slimani Salma & El Abbassi Idriss & Tounsi Said, 2016. "Threshold effects of fiscal policy on economic growth in developing countries," Journal of Economic and Financial Studies (JEFS), LAR Center Press, vol. 4(3), pages 24-37, June.
    12. Darby, Julia & Li, Chol-Won & Muscatelli, V. Anton, 2004. "Political uncertainty, public expenditure and growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 153-179, March.
    13. Abu S. Shonchoy, 2016. "Political Institutions, Governance, And Consumption Expenditure In Developing Countries: A Panel Data Analysis," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(4), pages 710-728, October.
    14. Mustafa Ismihan & F. Gülçin Özkan, 2012. "The Golden Rule of Public Finance: A Panacea?," Ekonomi-tek - International Economics Journal, Turkish Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 1-20, May.
    15. Tamai, Toshiki, 2016. "Public investment, the rate of return, and optimal fiscal policy in a stochastically growing economy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-17.
    16. Eleftherios Goulas & Athina Zervoyianni, 2013. "Growth, Deficits and Uncertainty: Theoretical Aspects and Empirical Evidence," Working Paper series 53_13, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    17. Eunji Kim & Yoonhee Ha & Sangheon Kim, 2017. "Public Debt, Corruption and Sustainable Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-30, March.
    18. Goulas, Eleftherios & Zervoyianni, Athina, 2013. "Growth, deficits and uncertainty: Theoretical aspects and empirical evidence from a panel of 27 countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 380-392.
    19. Max Groneck, 2011. "The golden rule of public finance and the composition of government expenditures: a growth and welfare analysis," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 273-294, December.
    20. Jäger, Philipp & Schmidt, Torsten, 2016. "The political economy of public investment when population is aging: A panel cointegration analysis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 145-158.

    More about this item

    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:wly:fistud:v:30:y:2009:i:1:p:103-133. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1475-5890 .

    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.