IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eco/journ1/2014-02-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal Size of Government in Turkey

Author

Listed:
  • Taner Turan

    (Adana Science and Technology University, Adana, Turkey.)

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between a size of the government and the economic growth and estimates the optimal size of the government for Turkey by using two different specifications. We find that the optimal size of the central government varies from 8.8 (15.4) to 9.1 (17) percent of GDP for 1950-2012 (1970-2012) period, depending on the specification. The optimal size of the central government expenditures excluding the interest payments is 14.4 percent of GDP. The actual rates have been well above the estimated optimal ones for a long time. The results of our quadratic specification also suggest that Armey curve is valid for Turkey during the period examined. We find that the estimated optimal sizes of the government from different specifications are consistent with each other, but there is a substantial variation in the size when different time periods are used. This shows that Armey curve is sensitive to change in the time periods. Our results clearly point out that the Turkish government should cut its expenditures in order to have a growth maximizinzing size.

Suggested Citation

  • Taner Turan, 2014. "Optimal Size of Government in Turkey," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 4(2), pages 286-294.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2014-02-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/download/717/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/717/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. François Facchini & Mickaël Melki, 2011. "Optimal Government Size and Economic Growth in France (1871-2008): An explanation by the State and Market Failures," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 11077, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    2. Shanaka Herath, 2012. "Size Of Government And Economic Growth: A Nonlinear Analysis," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(194), pages 7-30, July - Se.
    3. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 103-126, October.
    4. Facchini, François & Melki, Mickaël, 2013. "Efficient government size: France in the 20th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-14.
    5. Facchini, François & Melki, Mickaël, 2013. "Efficient government size: France in the 20th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-14.
    6. Ram, Rati, 1986. "Government Size and Economic Growth: A New Framework and Some Evidencefrom Cross-Section and Time-Series Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(1), pages 191-203, March.
    7. Karras, Georgios, 1996. "The Optimal Government Size: Further International Evidence on the Productivity of Government Services," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(2), pages 193-203, April.
    8. Magazzino, Cosimo & Forte, Francesco, 2010. "Optimal size of government and economic growth in EU-27," MPRA Paper 26669, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Chen, Sheng-Tung & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2005. "Government size and economic growth in Taiwan: A threshold regression approach," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 1051-1066, December.
    10. Yolande Van Heerden & Niek J. Schoeman, 2008. "Finding The Optimum Level Of Taxes In South Africa: A Balanced Budget Approach," Working Papers 200828, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    11. Hassan Aly & Mark Strazicich, 2000. "Is Government Size Optimal in the Gulf Countries of the Middle East? An empirical investigation," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 475-483.
    12. Esmaiel ABOUNOORI & Younes NADEMI, 2010. "Government Size Threshold and Economic Growth in Iran," EcoMod2010 259600001, EcoMod.
    13. Francesco Forte & Cosimo Magazzino, 2011. "Optimal Size Government and Economic Growth in EU Countries," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 295-322.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pelin Varol Iyidogan & Taner Turan, 2017. "Government Size and Economic Growth in Turkey: A Threshold Regression Analysis," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(2), pages 142-154.
    2. Suleyman Kasal, 2023. "Analysing The Armey Curve Based On The Fourier Cointegration Approach For Turkey," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 68(236), pages 139-158, January –.
    3. Francesca Bartolacci & Rosanna Salvia & Giovanni Quaranta & Luca Salvati, 2022. "Seeking the Optimal Dimension of Local Administrative Units: A Reflection on Urban Concentration and Changes in Municipal Size," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Alimi, R. Santos, 2014. "Does Optimal Government Size Exist for Developing Economies? The Case of Nigeria," MPRA Paper 56073, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Pelin Varol Iyidogan & Taner Turan, 2017. "Government Size and Economic Growth in Turkey: A Threshold Regression Analysis," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(2), pages 142-154.
    2. Hüseyin Şen & Ayşe Kaya & Ayşegül Durucan, 2023. "New insights into the growth-maximizing size of government: evidence and implications for Turkey," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2243-2296, August.
    3. Suleyman Kasal, 2023. "Analysing The Armey Curve Based On The Fourier Cointegration Approach For Turkey," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 68(236), pages 139-158, January –.
    4. Trofimov, Ivan D., 2020. "Health Care Spending and Economic Growth: Armey-Rahn Curve in a Panel of European Economies," MPRA Paper 106705, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ayşegül Durucan, 2022. "Testing The Validity Of The Bars Curve For Turkey," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 67(232), pages 153-192, January –.
    6. Trofimov, Ivan D., 2020. "The optimum size of public education spending: panel data evidence," MPRA Paper 106847, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Facchini, François & Melki, Mickaël, 2013. "Efficient government size: France in the 20th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Facchini, François & Melki, Mickaël, 2013. "Efficient government size: France in the 20th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-14.
    9. Alina Cristina Nuta & Florian Marcel Nuta & Viorica Chirila & Angela Roman & Andy Corneliu Pusca, 2015. "Testing the Relationship between Public Expenditure and Economic Growth in Romania," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 11(4), pages 86-102, August.
    10. Alimi, R. Santos, 2014. "Does Optimal Government Size Exist for Developing Economies? The Case of Nigeria," MPRA Paper 56073, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Coll Sebastian, 2014. "Is There Too Much Government in Developed Countries? A Time-Series Analysis of 24 OECD-Economies," Journal of Heterodox Economics, Sciendo, vol. 1(1), pages 1-30, June.
    12. Wanjuu Zungwe Lazarus & Hlalefang Khobai & Pierre Le Roux, 2017. "Government Size and Economic Growth in Africa and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(4), pages 628-637.
    13. Livio Di Matteo & Fraser Summerfield, 2018. "The Shifting Scully Curve: International Evidence from 1870 to 2013," Working Paper series 18-01, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    14. L. Di Matteo & Tom Barbiero, 2017. "Economic Growth and the Public Sector: A Comparison of Canada and Italy, 1870†2013," Working Papers 069, Ryerson University, Department of Economics.
    15. Sabrina Auci & Laura Castellucci & Manuela Coromaldi, 2021. "How does public spending affect technical efficiency? Some evidence from 15 European countries," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 108-130, January.
    16. Alimi, R. Santos, 2018. "Growth effect of government expenditures in West African countries: A nonlinear framework," MPRA Paper 99108, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2019.
    17. Andrew Phiri, 2017. "Nonlinearities in Wagner's law: further evidence from South Africa," International Journal of Sustainable Economy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(3), pages 231-249.
    18. Megha Jain & Aishwarya Nagpal & Abhay Jain, 2021. "Government Size and Economic Growth: An Empirical Examination of Selected Emerging Economies," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 10(1), pages 7-39, June.
    19. Emilian Dobrescu, 2015. "BARS curve in Romanian economy," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(39), pages 693-693, May.
    20. Arawatari, Ryo & Hori, Takeo & Mino, Kazuo, 2023. "Government expenditure and economic growth: A heterogeneous-agents approach," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    optimal government size; government size and growth; Turkey;
    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
    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

    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:eco:journ1:2014-02-6. 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: Ilhan Ozturk (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.econjournals.com .

    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.