Assessing the Impact of Public Spending on Growth : An Empirical Analysis for Seven Fast Growing Countries

Moreno-Dodson, Blanca

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCOUNTING;    ACCOUNTING FRAMEWORK;    ALLOCATION;    BUDGET ALLOCATIONS;    BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4663
RP-ID  :  WPS4663

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The goal of this paper is to understandbetter, at the empirical level, how public spendingcontributes to growth by focusing on both the level andcomposition of public spending, in connection to thedynamics of GDP per capita growth. It attempts to answer twospecific questions: (a) What are the policy conditions underwhich public spending contributes positively to growth? and(b) What are the public spending components that have astronger and longer-lasting impact on growth? The analysisis applied to a sample of seven fast-growing developingcountries: Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia,Botswana, and Mauritius, which have been among the topperformers in the world in terms of GDP per capita growthduring the period (1960-2006). The rationale for thiscountry sample selection is twofold. The first hypothesis isthat, given their positive growth achievements over arelatively long time period, perhaps it is morestraightforward to establish a link to public spending inthose countries. Second, it is expected that the findings ofthe analysis will provide lessons regarding the level andcomposition of public spending that can be useful for othercountries where growth has been less rapid. Assessing whatrole public spending has played in a dynamic growth contextmay indeed be enlightening for other cases as well. Thepaper is structured as follows. The first section is anintroduction that provides relevant facts and informationabout the seven countries during the period of analysis,based on seven individual country case studies. Section IIpresents the theoretical background behind the empiricalanalysis. Section III focuses on the empirical methodology,function specification, and variables selected. Section IVis dedicated to the results obtained with the cross-countryanalysis and some specific country results, as well as somecomparisons with previous findings by other authors.Finally, Section V draws policy implications and concludes.