IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/jefasp/jefas-07-2021-0124.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Macroeconomic determinants of fiscal policy in East Africa: a panel causality analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph Mawejje
  • Nicholas M. Odhiambo

Abstract

Purpose - This study investigates the dynamic causality linkages between fiscal deficits and selected macroeconomic indicators in a panel of five East African Community countries. Design/methodology/approach - The research design is based on panel cointegration tests, panel cross-section dependence tests, panel error correction-based Granger causality tests and panel impulse response functions. Findings - Results show that there is long-run feedback causality among fiscal deficits and each of the variables include gross domestic product (GDP) growth, current account balance, interest rates, inflation, grants and debt service. Short-run Granger causality dynamics indicate that there is feedback causality between fiscal deficits and GDP growth; no causality between fiscal deficits and inflation; no causality between fiscal deficits and current account; no causality between fiscal deficits and interest rates; feedback causality between fiscal deficits and grants; and no causality between fiscal deficits and debt service. Impulse response functions show positive and significant impacts of current account balance, inflation and grants; negative and significant impacts of real GDP growth and lending rates; and insignificant effects of debt service. Research limitations/implications - While the study examines the dynamic causality between fiscal deficits and selected macroeconomic indicators in the East African Community, the analysis excludes South Sudan due to significant data limitations. Practical implications - In light of the East African Community's aspirations to achieve convergence on key macroeconomic targets, including the fiscal deficit, this research provides novel insights on fiscal policy determinants and causality dynamics. Social implications - The dynamic relationships between fiscal policy and macroeconomic variables may have social implications for welfare, equitable growth and distribution of resources. Originality/value - With a focus on the East African Community, this paper contributes to the literature on the macroeconomic determinants of fiscal deficits in regional economic communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Mawejje & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2022. "Macroeconomic determinants of fiscal policy in East Africa: a panel causality analysis," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(53), pages 105-123, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:jefasp:jefas-07-2021-0124
    DOI: 10.1108/JEFAS-07-2021-0124
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JEFAS-07-2021-0124/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JEFAS-07-2021-0124/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/JEFAS-07-2021-0124?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pedroni, Peter, 2004. "Panel Cointegration: Asymptotic And Finite Sample Properties Of Pooled Time Series Tests With An Application To The Ppp Hypothesis," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 597-625, June.
    2. Abel, Andrew B & Blanchard, Olivier J, 1983. "An Intertemporal Model of Saving and Investment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(3), pages 675-692, May.
    3. Dumitrescu, Elena-Ivona & Hurlin, Christophe, 2012. "Testing for Granger non-causality in heterogeneous panels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1450-1460.
    4. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2021. "General diagnostic tests for cross-sectional dependence in panels," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 13-50, January.
    5. Adam, Christopher S. & Bevan, David L., 2005. "Fiscal deficits and growth in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 571-597, April.
    6. Nguyen, Van Bon, 2015. "Effects of fi scal defi cit and money M2 supply on inflation: Evidence from selected economies of Asia," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Universidad ESAN, vol. 20(38), pages 49-53.
    7. Kao, Chihwa, 1999. "Spurious regression and residual-based tests for cointegration in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 1-44, May.
    8. Thomas Bwire & Tim Lloyd & Oliver Morrissey, 2017. "Fiscal Reforms and the Fiscal Effects of Aid in Uganda," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(7), pages 1019-1036, July.
    9. Barro, Robert J, 1989. "The Ricardian Approach to Budget Deficits," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 37-54, Spring.
    10. Jushan Bai & Serena Ng, 2004. "A PANIC Attack on Unit Roots and Cointegration," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(4), pages 1127-1177, July.
    11. Peter Pedroni, 1999. "Critical Values for Cointegration Tests in Heterogeneous Panels with Multiple Regressors," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 653-670, November.
    12. Trachanas, Emmanouil & Katrakilidis, Constantinos, 2013. "The dynamic linkages of fiscal and current account deficits: New evidence from five highly indebted European countries accounting for regime shifts and asymmetries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 502-510.
    13. Morrissey, Oliver, 2015. "Aid and Government Fiscal Behavior: Assessing Recent Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 98-105.
    14. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
    15. Catao, Luis A.V. & Terrones, Marco E., 2005. "Fiscal deficits and inflation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 529-554, April.
    16. John Thornton, 2007. "On The Cyclicality Of South African Fiscal Policy," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(2), pages 258-264, June.
    17. Eliza Lis & Christiane Nickel, 2010. "The impact of extreme weather events on budget balances," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(4), pages 378-399, August.
    18. Marcela Eslava, 2011. "The Political Economy Of Fiscal Deficits: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 645-673, September.
    19. Efraim Benmelech & Nitzan Tzur-Ilan, 2020. "The Determinants of Fiscal and Monetary Policies During the Covid-19 Crisis," NBER Working Papers 27461, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Philippe Burger & Estian Calitz, 2021. "Covid‐19, Economic Growth and South African Fiscal Policy," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(1), pages 3-24, March.
    21. S M Ali Abbas & Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe & Antonio Fatás & Paolo Mauro & Ricardo C Velloso, 2011. "Fiscal Policy and the Current Account," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 59(4), pages 603-629, November.
    22. Giulia Mascagni & Emilija Timmis, 2017. "The Fiscal Effects of Aid in Ethiopia: Evidence from CVAR Applications," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(7), pages 1037-1056, July.
    23. Pedroni, Peter, 1999. "Critical Values for Cointegration Tests in Heterogeneous Panels with Multiple Regressors," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 653-670, Special I.
    24. Alberto Alesina & Roberto Perotti, 1995. "The Political Economy of Budget Deficits," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 42(1), pages 1-31, March.
    25. Papageorgiou, Theofanis & Michaelides, Panayotis G. & Tsionas, Efthymios G., 2016. "Business cycle determinants and fiscal policy: A Panel ARDL approach for EMU," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 57-68.
    26. Lin, Hsin-Yi & Chu, Hao-Pang, 2013. "Are fiscal deficits inflationary?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 214-233.
    27. Ali Salman Saleh & Charles Harvie, 2005. "The Budget Deficit And Economic Performance: A Survey," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 50(02), pages 211-243.
    28. Seater, John J, 1993. "Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 142-190, March.
    29. Loayza,Norman V. & Pennings,Steven Michael, 2020. "Macroeconomic Policy in the Time of COVID-19 : A Primer for Developing Countries," Research and Policy Briefs 147291, The World Bank.
    30. Peter C. B. Phillips & Donggyu Sul, 2003. "Dynamic panel estimation and homogeneity testing under cross section dependence *," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 6(1), pages 217-259, June.
    31. Sobrino, César R, 2013. "The twin deficits hypothesis and reverse causality: A short-run analysis of Peru," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Universidad ESAN, vol. 18(34), pages 9-15.
    32. Makin, Anthony J. & Layton, Allan, 2021. "The global fiscal response to COVID-19: Risks and repercussions," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 340-349.
    33. Javed Ahmad Bhat & Naresh Kumar Sharma, 2020. "Identifying fiscal inflation in India: some recent evidence from an asymmetric approach," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(50), pages 363-393, July.
    34. Eisner, Robert, 1989. "Budget Deficits: Rhetoric and Reality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 73-93, Spring.
    35. Bernheim, B Douglas, 1989. "A Neoclassical Perspective on Budget Deficits," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 55-72, Spring.
    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. Mawejje, Joseph & Odhiambo, Nicholas M., 2022. "The determinants and cyclicality of fiscal policy: Empirical evidence from East Africa," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 55-70.
    2. Joseph Mawejje & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2020. "The determinants of fiscal deficits: a survey of literature," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 67(3), pages 403-417, September.
    3. Fang, Zheng & Chang, Youngho, 2016. "Energy, human capital and economic growth in Asia Pacific countries — Evidence from a panel cointegration and causality analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 177-184.
    4. Attard, Juergen, 2019. "Public Debt and Economic Growth nexus: A Dynamic Panel ARDL approach," MPRA Paper 96023, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ajide, Kazeem & Ridwan, Ibrahim, 2018. "Energy consumption, environmental contaminants, and economic growth: The G8 experience," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 51, pages 58-83.
    6. Mathilde Aubry & Jean Bonnet & Patricia Renou-Maissant, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and the business cycle: the “Schumpeter” effect versus the “refugee” effect—a French appraisal based on regional data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(1), pages 23-55, January.
    7. Mitch Kunce, 2022. "The Tenuous Ecological Divorce and Unemployment Link with Suicide: A U.S. Panel Analysis 1968-2020," Journal of Statistical and Econometric Methods, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(3), pages 1-2.
    8. Francisco García-Lillo & Eduardo Sánchez-García & Bartolomé Marco-Lajara & Pedro Seva-Larrosa, 2023. "Renewable Energies and Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Overview," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2013. "No Mangoes in the Tundra: Spatial Heterogeneity in Agricultural Productivity Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 75(6), pages 914-939, December.
    10. Edmore Mahembe & Nicholas Mbaya Odhiambo, 2019. "Foreign aid, poverty and economic growth in developing countries: A dynamic panel data causality analysis," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1626321-162, January.
    11. Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2022. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Spur Economic Growth? New Empirical Evidence From Sub-Saharan African Countries," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 67(233), pages 61-84, April – J.
    12. Acikgoz, Senay & Ben Ali, Mohamed Sami, 2019. "Where does economic growth in the Middle Eastern and North African countries come from?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 172-183.
    13. Muhammad Shafiullah & Faridul Islam & Ravinthirakumaran Navaratnam, 2020. "The Harberger–Laursen–Metzler effect: evidence from five SAARC countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1749-1777, April.
    14. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2011. "Econometrics For Grumblers: A New Look At The Literature On Cross‐Country Growth Empirics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 109-155, February.
    15. NAPO, Fousséni, 2018. "Capital humain, productivité manufacturière et croissance économique dans les pays de l’UEMOA [Human capital, manufacturing productivity and economic growth in WAEMU countries]," MPRA Paper 89450, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Oct 2018.
    16. Mirza, Faisal Mehmood & Sinha, Avik & Khan, Javeria Rehman & Kalugina, Olga A. & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif, 2022. "Impact of Energy Efficiency on CO2 Emissions: Empirical Evidence from Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 111923, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2022.
    17. Eberhardt, Markus & Teal, Francis, 2008. "Modeling technology and technological change in manufacturing: how do countries differ?," MPRA Paper 10690, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Fang, Zheng & Chen, Yang, 2017. "Electricity consumption, Education Expenditure and Economic Growth in Chinese Cities," RIEI Working Papers 2017-02, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Research Institute for Economic Integration.
    19. Kaodui Li & Mohammed Musah & Yusheng Kong & Isaac Adjei Mensah & Stephen Kwadwo Antwi & Jonas Bawuah & Mary Donkor & Cephas Paa Kwasi Coffie & Agyemang Andrew Osei, 2020. "Liquidity and Firms’ Financial Performance Nexus: Panel Evidence From Non-Financial Firms Listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, August.
    20. Ozcan, Burcu, 2013. "The nexus between carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Middle East countries: A panel data analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1138-1147.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal deficits; Granger causality; Impulse response; Panel data; East Africa; E62; E63; H61; H62; H63;
    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
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • H61 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Budget; Budget Systems
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

    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:eme:jefasp:jefas-07-2021-0124. 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: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.