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Testing Sustainability of German Fiscal Policy. Evidence for the Period 1960 – 2003

Author

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  • Alfred Greiner
  • Uwe Koeller
  • Willi Semmler

Abstract

In this paper we test whether German public debt has been sustainable by resorting to a test proposed by Bohn (1998). We apply non-parametric and semi-parametric regressions with time depending coefficients. This test shows that the mean of the coefficient relevant for sustainability has been significantly positive over the time period considered. However, there is a negative trend in that coefficient which seems to have ceased to decline only in the middle to late 1990s. Further, we find evidence that the response of the primary deficit is a U-shaped function of the debt ratio which first declines and then rises after a certain threshold of the debt ratio is exceeded.

Suggested Citation

  • Alfred Greiner & Uwe Koeller & Willi Semmler, 2005. "Testing Sustainability of German Fiscal Policy. Evidence for the Period 1960 – 2003," CESifo Working Paper Series 1386, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1386
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Wilcox, David W, 1989. "The Sustainability of Government Deficits: Implications of the Present-Value Borrowing Constraint," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 21(3), pages 291-306, August.
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    7. Alfred Greiner & Willi Semmler, 1999. "An Inquiry into the Sustainability of German Fiscal Policy: Some Time-Series Tests," Public Finance Review, , vol. 27(2), pages 220-236, March.
    8. Bohn, Henning, 1995. "The Sustainability of Budget Deficits in a Stochastic Economy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(1), pages 257-271, February.
    9. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    10. Trehan, Bharat & Walsh, Carl E, 1991. "Testing Intertemporal Budget Constraints: Theory and Applications to U.S. Federal Budget and Current Account Deficits," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 23(2), pages 206-223, May.
    11. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Stanley Fischer, 1989. "Lectures on Macroeconomics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262022834, December.
    12. Lars Grüne & Willi Semmler & Malte Sieveking, 2005. "Creditworthiness and thresholds in a credit market model with multiple equilibria," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 25(2), pages 287-315, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jafri, Sabina Khurram, 2009. "External Debt Sustainability Analysis for the Medium Term: A Case Study," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 62(3), pages 363-382.
    2. Christian Schoder & Christian R. Proaño & Willi Semmler, 2013. "Are The Current Account Imbalances Between Emu Countries Sustainable? Evidence From Parametric And Non‐Parametric Tests," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(7), pages 1179-1204, November.
    3. Emilia Câmpeanu & Andreea Stoian, 2010. "Fiscal Policy Reaction in the Short Term for Assessing Fiscal Sustainability in the Long Runin Central and Eastern European Countries," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 60(6), pages 501-518, December.
    4. Stoian, Andreea, 2012. "Fiscal Sustainability of the European Welfare State: Evidence from Cumulative Excess of the Primary Balance," Working Papers 27/2012, Universidade Portucalense, Centro de Investigação em Gestão e Economia (CIGE).
    5. Wolfgang Kitterer, 2007. "Nachhaltige Finanz‐ und Investitionspolitik der Bundesländer," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8(S1), pages 53-83, April.
    6. Ngwa Edielle, T. H. Jackson, 2006. "Soutenabilité des finances publiques au Cameroun : Approche de Bohn (1998) [Testing Fiscal sustainability in Cameroon : Approach of Bohn (1998)]," MPRA Paper 9738, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Stoian, Andreea, 2011. "A Retrospective Approach on Government Response to Increasing Public Debt: Empirical Evidence for European Countries," Working Papers 15/2011, Universidade Portucalense, Centro de Investigação em Gestão e Economia (CIGE).
    8. Semmler, Willi & Greiner, Alfred & Diallo, Bobo & Rezai, Armon & Rajaram, Anand, 2007. "Fiscal policy, public expenditure composition, and growth theory and empirics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4405, The World Bank.

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    Keywords

    public debt; intertemporal budget constraint; varying coefficient model; non-parametric estimation;
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