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Growth and Welfare Maximization in Models of Public Finance and Endogenous Growth

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  • Florian Misch
  • Norman Gemmell
  • Richard Kneller

Abstract

This paper evaluates the trade-off between growth and welfare maximization from two perspectives. Firstly, it synthesizes and extends endogenous growth models with public finance to compare the growth and welfare maximizing tax rates. Secondly, it examines the distinct model outcomes in terms of the growth rates and welfare levels. This comparison highlights the range of trade-offs: the growth maximizing tax rate can lie above, below, or on the welfare maximizing equivalent. We find however that even relatively large differences in growth and welfare maximizing tax rates translate into relatively small differences in growth rates, and, in some cases, welfare levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Florian Misch & Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller, 2008. "Growth and Welfare Maximization in Models of Public Finance and Endogenous Growth," Discussion Papers 08/09, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    • Handle: RePEc:not:notcre:08/09
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Misch, Florian & Gemmell, Norman & Kneller, Richard Anthony, 2011. "Fiscal policy and growth with complementarities and constraints on government," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-018, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Leykun, Fentaw, 2021. "Tax Revenue Potential and Effort in Ethiopia: Evidence from Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 30(02), October.
    4. Florian Misch & Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller, 2014. "Using surveys of business perceptions as a guide to growth-enhancing fiscal reforms," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(4), pages 683-725, October.
    5. Manuel Gómez, 2016. "Factor substitution is an engine of growth in a model with productive public expenditure," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 37-48, January.
    6. Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & José Carlos Tello, 2014. "The Political Economy of Growth, Inequality, the Size and Composition of Government Spending," Documentos de Trabajo / Working Papers 2014-380, Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    7. Nguyen Quoc Hung, 2020. "Financial deepening in a two-sector endogenous growth model with productivity heterogeneity," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Kamiguchi, Akira & Tamai, Toshiki, 2019. "Public investment, public debt, and population aging under the golden rule of public finance," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 110-122.
    9. Ken Tabata, 2021. "Patent protection and public capital accumulation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(1), pages 154-190, February.
    10. Misch Florian & Gemmell Norman & Kneller Richard, 2010. "Binding Constraints and Second-Best Strategies in Endogenous Growth Models with Public Finance," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 1(2), pages 1-37, December.
    11. Manuel Gómez, 2014. "Optimal size of the government: the role of the elasticity of substitution," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 29-53, February.
    12. Akira Kamiguchi & Toshiki Tamai, 2017. "Public Investment and Golden Rule of Public Finance in an Overlapping Generations Model," KIER Working Papers 971, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    13. Gerasimos T. Soldatos, 2019. "Public-private investment substitutability-complementarity, taxation, and bank competition," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(3), pages 41-61.
    14. Klarl, Torben, 2016. "Pollution externalities, endogenous health and the speed of convergence in an endogenous growth model," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 98-113.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic Growth; Productive Public Spending; Optimal Fiscal Policy;
    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
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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