Government Size and Output Volatility: Should We Forsake Automatic Stabilization?

Government Size and Output Volatility: Should We Forsake Automatic Stabilization? PDF Author: Xavier Debrun
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
ISBN: 9781451869828
Category : Economic development
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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Book Description
The paper takes stock of the debate on the positive link between output volatility and the size of government-which reflects automatic stabilizers. After a survey of the literature, we show that the contribution of automatic stabilizers to output stability may have disappeared since the 1990s. However, econometric analysis suggests that the breakdown in the government size-volatility relationship largely reflects temporary developments (better monetary management and financial intermediation). Once these factors are taken into account, the stabilizing role of government size remains important although little extra stability can be gained by expanding public expenditure beyond 40 percent of GDP.

Government Size and Output Volatility: Should We Forsake Automatic Stabilization?

Government Size and Output Volatility: Should We Forsake Automatic Stabilization? PDF Author: Xavier Debrun
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
ISBN: 9781451869828
Category : Economic development
Languages : en
Pages : 53

Get Book Here

Book Description
The paper takes stock of the debate on the positive link between output volatility and the size of government-which reflects automatic stabilizers. After a survey of the literature, we show that the contribution of automatic stabilizers to output stability may have disappeared since the 1990s. However, econometric analysis suggests that the breakdown in the government size-volatility relationship largely reflects temporary developments (better monetary management and financial intermediation). Once these factors are taken into account, the stabilizing role of government size remains important although little extra stability can be gained by expanding public expenditure beyond 40 percent of GDP.

Government Size and Output Volatility

Government Size and Output Volatility PDF Author: Xavier Debrun
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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Book Description


IMF Working Papers

IMF Working Papers PDF Author: Xavier Debrun
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Automatic Stabilizers and the Size of Government

Automatic Stabilizers and the Size of Government PDF Author: Mr. Carlo Cottarelli
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 145520059X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 17

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Book Description
The size of government is a commonly used variable in many analytical studies on the effects of fiscal policy. An accepted practice is to measure it as the ratio of government spending to GDP. However, this is not the correct metric when computing the stabilization effects of nondiscretionary fiscal policy. Intuitively, public spending does not react to cyclical conditions as much as taxes do - as reflected in the standard zero-one elasticity assumptions for spending and revenue, respectively. This paper shows that the revenue to GDP ratio is the appropriate indicator of government size for the purpose of assessing the stabilization effects of nondiscretionary fiscal policy.

From Volatility to Stability in Expenditure

From Volatility to Stability in Expenditure PDF Author: Naotaka Sugawara
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484334566
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 49

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Book Description
This paper examines the effect of stabilization funds on the volatility of government expenditure in resource-rich countries. Using a panel data set of 68 resource-rich countries over 1988–2012, the results find that the existence of stabilization funds contributes to smoothing government expenditure. The spending volatility in countries that have established such funds is found to be 13 percent lower in the main estimation, and similar impacts are found in robustness tests. The analysis also shows that political institutions and fiscal rules are significant factors in reducing the expenditure volatility, while highlighting the roles of the size of economy, diversified exports, real sector management, and financial markets.

Government Size and Output Volatility

Government Size and Output Volatility PDF Author: Xavier Debrun
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economic stabilization
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
Prior to the launch of the euro, academics and policymakers were concerned that the loss of the monetary policy instrument would deprive participating countries of a vital tool to respond to country-specific economic shocks. This concern was rooted in the generally accepted proposition that market-based adjustment channels - i.e. labour mobility and capital flows - tended to be weaker among euro area countries than among regions of existing monetary unions such as the United States. Automatic stabilizers had long been regarded as playing a key role in macroeconomic stabilization. In particular, they were generally considered as having contributed significantly to the decrease of output volatility witnessed in Europe and in the United States after World War II, when the size of governments increased substantially on both sides of the Atlantic. Hence it was hoped that improved national fiscal policy could partly make up for the loss of monetary policy in stabilizing national macroeconomic conditions. The aim of the paper is to discuss this issue in the light of recent experience.

Revisiting the Countercyclicality of Fiscal Policy

Revisiting the Countercyclicality of Fiscal Policy PDF Author: João Tovar Jalles
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 31

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Book Description
This paper provides a novel dataset of time-varying measures on the degree of countercyclicality of fiscal policies for advanced and developing economies between 1980 and 2021. The use of time-varying measures of fiscal stabilization, with special attention to potential endogenity issues, overcomes the major limitation of previous studies and alllows the analysis to account for both country-specific as well as global factors. The paper also examines the key determinants of countercyclicality of fiscal policy with a focus on factors as severe crises, informality, financial development, and governance. Empirical results show that (i) fiscal policy tends to be more counter-cyclical during severe crises than typical recessions, especially for advanced economies; (ii) fiscal counter-cyclicality has increased over time for many economies over the last two decades; (iii) discretionary and automatic countercyclicality are both strong in advanced economies but acyclical (at times procyclical) in low-income countries, (iv) fiscal countercyclicality operates primarily through the expenditure channel, particularly for social benefits, (vi) better financial development, larger government size and stronger institutional quality are associated with larger countercyclical effects of fiscal policy. Our results are robust to various specifications and endogeneity checks.

Fiscal Stabilization and Growth

Fiscal Stabilization and Growth PDF Author: Sangyup Choi
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484318501
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Medium-term growth can be enhanced by fiscal stabilization. However, to date, no systematic effort has been made to study the specific channels through which fiscal stabilization affects growth. This paper examines the effect of fiscal stabilization on industrial growth and how this effect depends on different technological characteristics. It does so by applying a difference-in-difference approach to an unbalanced panel of 22 manufacturing industries for 55 advanced and developing economies over the period 1970-2014. The results suggest that fiscal stabilization fosters growth in industries with: i) higher external financial dependence and lower asset fixity; ii) higher degree of labor intensity; iii) higher investment lumpiness and relationship-specific input usage. These effects tend to be larger during economic recessions. The results are robust to different measures of fiscal stabilization and the inclusion of various interactions between a broad set of macroeconomic variables and production technologies.

Fiscal Monitor, April 2015

Fiscal Monitor, April 2015 PDF Author: International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1498396380
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
Fiscal risks remain significant in both advanced and emerging market and developing economies. Fiscal policy continues to play an essential role in building confidence and, where appropriate, sustaining aggregate demand. According to this issue of the Fiscal Monitor, strengthening fiscal frameworks—particularly to manage public finance risks and ensure debt sustainability—must be part of the fiscal policy response. Countries should seize the moment created by lower oil prices to start the process of energy taxation and energy subsidy reform. Finally, fiscal policy can contribute substantially to macroeconomic stability, through the workings of automatic stabilizers. By doing so, fiscal policy can also unlock significant growth dividends.

Economic Policy: Theory and Practice

Economic Policy: Theory and Practice PDF Author: Agnes Benassy-Quere
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019091212X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 705

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Book Description
Economic Policy provides a unique combination of facts-based analysis, state-of-the art economic theory, and insights from first-hand policy experience at the national and international levels to shed light on current domestic and international policy challenges. It is ideally suited for students, practitioners, and scholars seeking understanding both of the pragmatic constraints of real-world policy making and the analytical tools that enhance inquiry and inform debates. The authors draw on their experiences as academics and as policy makers in European and international institutions to offer a deep dive into the rationale, design, and implementation of economic policy across a range of policy domains: fiscal policy, monetary policy, international finance, financial stability, taxes, long-term growth and inequality. Highlighting the ways experience, theories, and institutions interact, each chapter starts with historical examples of dilemmas and shows how theoretical approaches can help policy makers understand what is at stake and identify solutions. The authors highlight the differences between the positive approach to economic policy (how do policies impact the economy), the normative approach (what should be policymakers' objectives and against which criteria should their action be judged), and the political-economy constraints (what are the limits and obstacles to public intervention). They rely on the most recent academic research, providing technical boxes while explaining the mechanisms in plain English in the text, with appropriate illustrations. This new edition is informed by such important recent developments as the Great Recession, the strains on the European Union and the Euro, the challenges of public and private debt, the successes and setbacks to emerging markets, changes to labor markets along with the increased attention to inequality, the debates on secular stagnation and its implications for conventional and unconventional monetary policy, the re-regulation of the financial sector, the debt overhang in both the public and the private sector.