IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pubfin/v33y2005i1p117-144.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal Reserves and State Own-Source Expenditure in Downturn Years

Author

Listed:
  • Yilin Hou

    (University of Georgia)

Abstract

This article tests the effects of fiscal reserves on state total own-source expenditure in downturn years. Using a panel data set (fifty states, 1979 to 1999), the article uses the variance-from-trend as the dependent variable to estimate the effects of aggregate reserves as well as budget stabilization funds (BSF) and general fund surpluses (GFS) and obtain their respective coefficients. Two data sources on fiscal reserves are used: the Fiscal Survey of the States and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The article provides evidence that fiscal reserves exert positive effects on state own-source expenditure in downturn years. The effects, however, are mainly from the BSF; the GFS coefficients, even when statistically significant, are only a quarter the size of those for the BSF. Nevertheless, states that do not have a BSF seem still to rely on the GFS. It appears that the BSF has taken over the counter cyclical stabilizing function from the GFS.

Suggested Citation

  • Yilin Hou, 2005. "Fiscal Reserves and State Own-Source Expenditure in Downturn Years," Public Finance Review, , vol. 33(1), pages 117-144, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:33:y:2005:i:1:p:117-144
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142104271139
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1091142104271139
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1091142104271139?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Dye, Richard F. & McGuire, Therese J., 1991. "Growth and Variability of State Individual Income and General Sales Taxes," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 44(1), pages 55-66, March.
    3. Knight, Brian & Levinson, Arik, 1999. "Rainy Day Funds and State Government Savings," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(3), pages 459-472, September.
    4. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    5. Sobel, Russell S. & Holcombe, Randall G., 1996. "Measuring the Growth and Variability of Tax Bases Over the Business Cycle," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 49(4), pages 535-552, December.
    6. Dye, Richard F. & McGuire, Therese J., 1991. "Growth and Variability of State Individual Income and General Sales Taxes," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 44(1), pages 55-66, March.
    7. Knight, Brian & Levinson, Arik, 1999. "Rainy Day Funds and State Government Savings," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 3), pages 459-72, September.
    8. Wagner, Gary A., 2003. "Are state budget stabilization funds only the illusion of savings?: Evidence from stationary panel data," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 213-238.
    9. Edward M. Gramlich, 1991. "The 1991 State and Local Fiscal Crisis," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(2), pages 249-288.
    10. Sobel, Russell S. & Holcombe, Randall G., 1996. "Measuring the Growth and Variability of Tax Bases over the Business Cycle," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 49(4), pages 535-52, December.
    11. Bradley Braun & Yasuji Otsuka, 1998. "The effects of economic conditions and tax structures on state tax revenue flow," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 4(3), pages 259-269, August.
    12. Dye, Richard F., 2004. "State Revenue Cyclicality," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(1), pages 133-145, March.
    13. William Seyfried & Louis Pantuosco, 2003. "Estimating the sensitivity of state tax revenue to cyclical and wealth effects," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 27(1), pages 114-124, March.
    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. Phuong Nguyen-Hoang & Yilin Hou, 2014. "Local Fiscal Responses to Procyclical Changes in State Aid," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 587-608.
    2. Bo Zhao, 2014. "Saving for a rainy day: estimating the appropriate size of U.S. state budget stabilization funds," Working Papers 14-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    3. Zhao, Bo, 2016. "Saving for a rainy day: Estimating the needed size of U.S. state budget stabilization funds," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 130-152.
    4. Wen Wang & Bo Zhao, 2017. "Transparency in state debt disclosure," Working Papers 17-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

    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. Zhao, Bo, 2016. "Saving for a rainy day: Estimating the needed size of U.S. state budget stabilization funds," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 130-152.
    2. Gary Wagner & Russell Sobel, 2006. "State budget stabilization fund adoption: Preparing for the next recession or circumventing fiscal constraints?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 177-199, January.
    3. Fricke, Hans & Süssmuth, Bernd, 2014. "Growth and Volatility of Tax Revenues in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 114-138.
    4. Raffaele Lagravinese & Paolo Liberati & Agnese Sacchi, 2016. "The growth and variability of local taxes: An application to the Italian regions," Working Papers. Collection B: Regional and sectoral economics 1601, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    5. Soyoung Park & Sungchan Kim, 2022. "The Effects of Fiscal Rules Based on Revenue Structure: Evidence from U.S State Governments," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 763-781, October.
    6. Thomas A. Garrett & Mark W. Nichols, 2019. "The Behavior Of Casino Gaming Revenue Over The Business Cycle Considering Alternative Measures Of “Income”," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(2), pages 274-296, April.
    7. Bernd Hayo & Sascha Mierzwa & Umut Unal, 2021. "Estimating Policy-Corrected Long-Term and Short-Term Tax Elasticities for the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202112, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    8. Igor Goncharov & Martin Jacob, 2014. "Why Do Countries Mandate Accrual Accounting for Tax Purposes?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 1127-1163, December.
    9. Donald Bruce & William F. Fox & M. H. Tuttle, 2006. "Tax Base Elasticities: A Multi‐State Analysis of Long‐Run and Short‐Run Dynamics," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(2), pages 315-341, October.
    10. Wagner, Gary A., 2003. "Are state budget stabilization funds only the illusion of savings?: Evidence from stationary panel data," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 213-238.
    11. Yota Deli & Derek Lambert & Martina Lawless & Kieran McQuinn & Edgar L. W. Morgenroth, 2017. "How Sensitive is Irish Income Tax Revenue to Underlying Economic Activity?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 48(3), pages 317-336.
    12. di Bella, Enrico & Gandullia, Luca & Leporatti, Lucia, 2014. "Short and long run income elasticity of gambling tax bases: evidence from Italy," MPRA Paper 73757, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Harvey Cutler & Martin Shields & Stephen Davies, 2018. "Can State Tax Policy Increase Economic Activity and Reduce Inequality?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 142-164, March.
    14. Richard R. Hawkins, 2000. "Price Elasticities in Consumer Sales Tax Revenue," Public Finance Review, , vol. 28(2), pages 171-184, March.
    15. Guido Wolswijk, 2009. "The short- and long-run tax revenue response to changes in tax bases," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(3), pages 1960-1970.
    16. Bernd Hayo & Sascha Mierzwa & Umut Ünal, 2023. "Estimating policy-corrected long-term and short-term tax elasticities for the USA, Germany, and the United Kingdom," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 465-504, January.
    17. Lagravinese, Raffaele & Liberati, Paolo & Sacchi, Agnese, 2020. "Tax buoyancy in OECD countries: New empirical evidence," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    18. Alison Felix, 2008. "The growth and volatility of state tax revenue sources in the Tenth District," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 93(Q III), pages 63-88.
    19. Syed Ahsan & Panagiotis Tsigaris, 2002. "Measuring the Social Discount Rate under Uncertainty: A Methodology and Application," CESifo Working Paper Series 824, CESifo.
    20. Howard Chernick & Cordelia Reimers & Jennifer Tennant, 2014. "Tax structure and revenue instability: the Great Recession and the states," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-22, December.

    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:sae:pubfin:v:33:y:2005:i:1:p:117-144. 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: SAGE Publications (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.