IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/39616.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Economic growth and the optimum size of government in 15 European countries: A threshold panel approach

Author

Listed:
  • Hajamini, Mehdi
  • Falahi, Mohammad Ali

Abstract

In the growth literature, there is a nonlinear relationship between economic growth and government size, which is similar to an inverted U-shaped curve. This curve can be used to determine the optimum share of government expenditures. This paper, using threshold panel approach, attempts to investigate this nonlinear effect for 15 European countries, empirically. For the size of government, four measures are considered as follows: (i) total expenditures to gross domestic product, (ii) final consumption expenditures to gross domestic product, (iii) current expenditures other than final consumption to gross domestic product and (iv) government gross fixed capital formation to gross domestic product. Estimation results show that the inverted U-shaped curve is approved for four measures. The estimated optimum shares are 41.7%, 15.8%, 19.4% and 2.5%, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Hajamini, Mehdi & Falahi, Mohammad Ali, 2012. "Economic growth and the optimum size of government in 15 European countries: A threshold panel approach," MPRA Paper 39616, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:39616
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/39616/1/MPRA_paper_39616.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce E. Hansen, 2000. "Sample Splitting and Threshold Estimation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(3), pages 575-604, May.
    2. Hansen, Bruce E, 1996. "Inference When a Nuisance Parameter Is Not Identified under the Null Hypothesis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(2), pages 413-430, March.
    3. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    4. Kosempel, Stephen, 2004. "Finite lifetimes and government spending in an endogenous growth model," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 197-210.
    5. Folster, Stefan & Henrekson, Magnus, 2001. "Growth effects of government expenditure and taxation in rich countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1501-1520, August.
    6. Davies, Antony, 2009. "Human development and the optimal size of government," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 326-330, March.
    7. Loizides, John & Vamvoukas, George, 2005. "Government Expenditure and Economic Growth: Evidence from Trivariate Causality Testing," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 8(1), pages 1-28, May.
    8. Kristof Witte & Wim Moesen, 2010. "Sizing the government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 39-55, October.
    9. Ram, Rati, 1986. "Government Size and Economic Growth: A New Framework and Some Evidencefrom Cross-Section and Time-Series Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(1), pages 191-203, March.
    10. Sugata Ghosh, 2002. "On public investment, long-run growth, and the real exchange rate," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(1), pages 72-90, January.
    11. Guseh, James S., 1997. "Government Size and Economic Growth in Developing Countries: A Political-Economy Framework," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 175-192, January.
    12. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    13. Dar, Atul A. & AmirKhalkhali, Sal, 2002. "Government size, factor accumulation, and economic growth: evidence from OECD countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 24(7-8), pages 679-692, November.
    14. 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.
    15. Mourmouras, Iannis A. & Lee, Jong Eun, 1999. "Government spending on infrastructure in an endogenous growth model with finite horizons," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 395-407, September.
    16. Chen, Sheng-Tung & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2005. "Government size and economic growth in Taiwan: A threshold regression approach," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 1051-1066, December.
    17. Blanchard, Olivier J, 1985. "Debt, Deficits, and Finite Horizons," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(2), pages 223-247, April.
    18. Hansen Bruce E., 1997. "Inference in TAR Models," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-16, April.
    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. Hajamini, Mehdi & Falahi, Mohammad Ali, 2018. "Economic growth and government size in developed European countries: A panel threshold approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-13.
    2. Mehdi Hajamini & Mohammad Ali Falahi, 2014. "The nonlinear impact of government consumption expenditure on economic growth: Evidence from low and low-middle income countries," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Akram, Vaseem & Rath, Badri Narayan, 2020. "Optimum government size and economic growth in case of Indian states: Evidence from panel threshold model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 151-162.
    4. Hüseyin Şen & Ayşe Kaya & Ayşegül Durucan, 2023. "New insights into the growth-maximizing size of government: evidence and implications for Turkey," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2243-2296, August.
    5. Facchini, François & Melki, Mickaël, 2013. "Efficient government size: France in the 20th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-14.
    6. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Mehmet Ugur & Siew Ling Yew, 2017. "Does Government Size Affect Per-Capita Income Growth? A Hierarchical Meta-Regression Analysis," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(300), pages 142-171, March.
    7. Pelin Varol Iyidogan & Taner Turan, 2017. "Government Size and Economic Growth in Turkey: A Threshold Regression Analysis," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(2), pages 142-154.
    8. Tamoya Christie, 2014. "The Effect Of Government Spending On Economic Growth: Testing The Non-Linear Hypothesis," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 183-204, April.
    9. Halkos, George & Paizanos, Epameinondas, 2015. "Fiscal policy and economic performance: A review of the theoretical and empirical literature," MPRA Paper 67737, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Zareen, Shumaila & Qayyum, Abdul, 2014. "An Analysis of the Impact of Government Size on Economic Growth of Pakistan: An Endogenous Growth," MPRA Paper 56139, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Shanaka Herath, 2012. "Size Of Government And Economic Growth: A Nonlinear Analysis," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(194), pages 7-30, July - Se.
    12. Megha Jain & Aishwarya Nagpal & Abhay Jain, 2021. "Government Size and Economic Growth: An Empirical Examination of Selected Emerging Economies," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 10(1), pages 7-39, June.
    13. Robert Pater & Tomasz Skica, 2014. "The productivity of public and private sector in Poland," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 10(2), pages 120-137, July.
    14. Olaoye, Olumide O. & Eluwole, Oluwatosin O. & Ayesha, Aziz & Afolabi, Olugbenga O., 2020. "Government spending and economic growth in ECOWAS: An asymmetric analysis," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    15. Pula Lekë & Elshani Alban, 2018. "Role of Public Expenditure in Economic Growth: Econometric Evidence from Kosovo 2002–2015," Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 74-87, June.
    16. Petar Stankov, 2017. "Economic Freedom and Welfare Before and After the Crisis," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-62497-6, December.
    17. Uchechi Shirley Anaduaka & Vivian Ikwuoma Nnetu & Stephen Ekene Aguegboh & David Iheke Okorie, 2016. "Relative Maxima of the Public Sector: A Comparative Study of Nigeria and Ghana," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(11), pages 575-589, November.
    18. Shanaka Herath, 2009. "The Size of the Government and Economic Growth: An Empirical Study of Sri Lanka," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2009_08, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    19. J. Stephen Ferris, 2010. "Fiscal Policy from a Public Choice Perspective," Carleton Economic Papers 10-10, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
    20. Sharma, Neelam & Khanna, Sakshi & Srivastava, Amit, 2024. "Threshold Impacts of Public Expenditure on Economic Growth: Insights from India Utilizing Panel Threshold Regression Model," Asian Journal of Applied Economics, Kasetsart University, Center for Applied Economics Research, vol. 31(1), January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic growth; Government expenditures; Government size; Threshold panel; Bootstrap procedure; European countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

    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:pra:mprapa:39616. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.