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Reconsidering Wagner’s law: evidence from the functions of the government

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  • António Afonso
  • José Alves

Abstract

We revisit Wagner’s law by function of government expenditure. Using data of 14 European countries between 1996 and 2013, we apply panel data and SUR methods to assess public expenditure–income elasticities. We find that some functions of government spending for a few countries (e.g. Austria, France, the Netherlands and Portugal) validate Wagner’s law. For the Netherlands, expenditures with environment protection increase more than proportionately to economic growth, and for France that is the case of spending in housing and community amenities. In addition, Greece is the only country where two public spending items react more than one to one to growth.

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  • António Afonso & José Alves, 2017. "Reconsidering Wagner’s law: evidence from the functions of the government," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(5), pages 346-350, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:24:y:2017:i:5:p:346-350
    DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2016.1192267
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    3. António Afonso & José Alves, 2022. "Does government spending efficiency improve fiscal sustainability?," Working Papers REM 2022/0226, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    4. Paparas, Dimitrios & Stoian, Andreea, 2016. "The validity of Wagner’s Law in Romania during 1995-2015," MPRA Paper 74378, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Philip Arestis & Hüseyin Şen & Ayşe Kaya, 2021. "On the linkage between government expenditure and output: empirics of the Keynesian view versus Wagner’s law," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 265-303, May.
    6. Hans Pitlik & Margit Schratzenstaller, 2022. "Kurzexpertise zu Abgabensystem und Ausgabenstrukturen im internationalen Vergleich. Ausgangssituation und Reformbedarf," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 67988, February.
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    8. Emilian Dobrescu, 2018. "Functional trinity of public finance in an emerging economy," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 7(1), pages 1-27, December.
    9. Sedat Alataş & Erkam Sarı, 2021. "An Empirical Investigation on Regional Disparities in Public Expenditures: Province Level Evidence from Turkey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 217-240, November.
    10. Wensheng Xiao & Yu Tang & Bright Obuobi & Shaojian Qu & Minglan Yuan & Decai Tang, 2023. "The Influence of Rule of Law on Government’s Sustainable Economic Management: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-23, July.
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    12. Wahyudi Wahyudi, 2020. "The Relationship between Government Spending and Economic Growth Revisited," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 84-88.
    13. Martin Ravallion, 2018. "What might explain today's conflicting narratives on global inequality?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. António Afonso & Sérgio Gadelha & Agatha Silva, 2020. "Public Debt And Economic Growth In Brazil," Working Papers REM 2020/0148, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    15. 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.
    16. Martin Ravallion, 2018. "What might explain today’s conflicting narratives on global inequality?," WIDER Working Paper Series 141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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