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Does public sector efficiency matter? Revisiting the relation between fiscal size and economic growth in a world sample

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  • Konstantinos Angelopoulos
  • Apostolis Philippopoulos
  • Efthymios Tsionas

Abstract

This paper revisits the relationship between fiscal size and economic growth. Our work differs from the empirical growth literature because this relationship depends explicitly on the efficiency of the public sector. We use a sample of 64 countries, both developed and developing, in four 5-year time-periods over 1980-2000. Building on the work of Afonso, Schuknecht and Tanzi (2005), we construct a measure of public sector efficiency in each country and each time-period by calculating an output to input ratio. In addition, we get an estimate of technical efficiency of public spending for 52 countries for the time-period 1995-2000 by employing a stochastic frontier analysis. Using these two measures, we find evidence of a non-monotonic relation between fiscal size and economic growth that depends critically on government efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Konstantinos Angelopoulos & Apostolis Philippopoulos & Efthymios Tsionas, 2007. "Does public sector efficiency matter? Revisiting the relation between fiscal size and economic growth in a world sample," Working Papers 2007_30, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
  • Handle: RePEc:gla:glaewp:2007_30
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    1. Jakob De Haan & Susanna Lundström & Jan‐Egbert Sturm, 2006. "Market‐oriented institutions and policies and economic growth: A critical survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 157-191, April.
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    8. Antonio Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2010. "Public sector efficiency: evidence for new EU member states and emerging markets," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(17), pages 2147-2164.
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    10. Angelopoulos, Konstantinos & Economides, George & Kammas, Pantelis, 2007. "Tax-spending policies and economic growth: Theoretical predictions and evidence from the OECD," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 885-902, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal policy; government efficiency; growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

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