Fiscal Rules, Public Investment, and Growth

Servé ; n, Luis

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCOUNTING;    ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING;    ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES;    AGGREGATE DEMAND;    ASSET ACCUMULATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4382
RP-ID  :  WPS4382

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Solvency is an intertemporal concept,relating to the present value of revenues and expenditures,and encompassing both assets and liabilities. But thestandard practice among policy makers, financial marketparticipants and international financial institutions is toassess the strength of the fiscal accounts solely on thebasis of the cash deficit. Short-term cash flows matter, buta preponderant focus on them can encourage governments toinvest too little, especially during episodes of fiscaltightening. This has potentially adverse consequences forgrowth and, paradoxically, even for fiscal solvency itself.The paper offers an overview of the links between fiscaltargets, public investment, and public sector solvency.After reviewing the international experience with publicinvestment under fiscal adjustment, the paper lays out ananalytical framework to illustrate the consequences of usingthe public deficit as a guide to solvency. The paper thendiscusses some alternatives to conventional cash deficitrules and their implications for investment and fiscal solvency.