IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/38109.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Government spending, corruption and economic growth

Author

Listed:
  • d'Agostino, Giorgio
  • Dunne, Paul J.
  • Pieroni, Luca

Abstract

This paper considers the effects of corruption and government spending on economic growth. It starts from an endogenous growth model and extends it to account for the detrimental effects of corruption on the potentially productive components of government spending, namely military and investment spending. The resulting model is estimated on a sample of African countries and the results show, first, that the growth rate is strongly influenced by the interaction between corruption and military burden, with the interaction between corruption and government investment expenditure having a weaker effect. Second, allowing for the cyclical economic fluctuations in specific countries leaves the estimated elasticities close to those of the full sample. Third, there are significant conditioning variables that need to be taken into account, namely the form of government, political instability and natural resource endowment. These illustrate the cross country heterogeneity when accounting for quantitative direct and indirect effects of key variables on economic growth. Overall, these findings suggest important policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • d'Agostino, Giorgio & Dunne, Paul J. & Pieroni, Luca, 2012. "Government spending, corruption and economic growth," MPRA Paper 38109, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:38109
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/38109/1/MPRA_paper_38109.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    2. Chang, Roberto & Kaltani, Linda & Loayza, Norman V., 2009. "Openness can be good for growth: The role of policy complementarities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 33-49, September.
    3. David De La Croix & Matthias Doepke, 2009. "To Segregate or to Integrate: Education Politics and Democracy," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 597-628.
    4. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    5. Giorgio d’Agostino & John Paul Dunne & Luca Pieroni, 2012. "Corruption, Military Spending And Growth," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 591-604, December.
    6. Axel Dreher & Thomas Herzfeld, 2005. "The Economic Costs of Corruption: A Survey and New Evidence," Public Economics 0506001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Gupta, Sanjeev & de Mello, Luiz & Sharan, Raju, 2001. "Corruption and military spending," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 749-777, November.
    8. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    9. David de la Croix & Clara Delavallade, 2007. "Corruption et allocation optimale de l'investissement public," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 58(3), pages 637-647.
    10. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    11. Ndulu,Benno J. & O'Connell,Stephen A. & Bates,Robert H. & Collier,Paul & Soludo,Chukwuma C., 2009. "The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa, 1960–2000," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521127752, January.
    12. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Swaroop, Vinaya & Heng-fu, Zou, 1996. "The composition of public expenditure and economic growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2-3), pages 313-344, April.
    13. Clara Delavallade, 2006. "Corruption and distribution of public spending in developing countries," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 30(2), pages 222-239, June.
    14. Mariani, Fabio, 2007. "Migration as an antidote to rent-seeking?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 609-630, November.
    15. Clara Delavallade, 2007. "Why do North African firms involve in corruption ?," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00143412, HAL.
    16. Clara Delavallade, 2007. "Why do North African firms involve in corruption ?," Post-Print halshs-00143412, HAL.
    17. Ahn, Seung C. & Schmidt, Peter, 1995. "Efficient estimation of models for dynamic panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 5-27, July.
    18. Timothy Besley & Masayuki Kudamatsu, 2007. "Making Autocracy Work," STICERD - Development Economics Papers - From 2008 this series has been superseded by Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers 48, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    19. Christa N. Brunnschweiler & Erwin H. Bulte, 2009. "Natural resources and violent conflict: resource abundance, dependence, and the onset of civil wars," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 61(4), pages 651-674, October.
    20. Raddatz, Claudio, 2007. "Are external shocks responsible for the instability of output in low-income countries?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 155-187, September.
    21. Sandler,Todd & Hartley,Keith, 1995. "The Economics of Defense," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521447287, January.
    22. Ahn, Seung C. & Schmidt, Peter, 1997. "Efficient estimation of dynamic panel data models: Alternative assumptions and simplified estimation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1-2), pages 309-321.
    23. Alesina, Alberto & Özler, Sule & Roubini, Nouriel & Swagel, Phillip, 1996. "Political Instability and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 189-211, June.
    24. Michael Alexeev & Robert Conrad, 2009. "Assessment of Tax Reform Results in Russia: Comparative Analysis," Working Papers 0001, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, revised 2009.
    25. Blomberg, S Brock, 1996. "Growth, Political Instability and the Defence Burden," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 63(252), pages 649-672, November.
    26. Jong-A-Pin, Richard, 2009. "On the measurement of political instability and its impact on economic growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 15-29, March.
    27. van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2006. "Challenges and Opportunities for Resource Rich Economies," CEPR Discussion Papers 5688, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    28. Giorgio d'Agostino & Luca Pieroni & J Paul Dunne, 2011. "Corruption, Military Spending and Growth," Working Papers 1103, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. d'Agostino, G. & Dunne, J.P. & Pieroni, L., 2016. "Corruption and growth in Africa," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 71-88.
    2. Vusal Musayev, 2016. "Externalities in Military Spending and Growth: The Role of Natural Resources as a Channel through Conflict," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 378-391, June.
    3. Simplice A Asongu, 2015. "A Good Turn Deserves Another: Political Stability, Corruption and Corruption-Control," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2037-2048.
    4. Garfinkel, Michelle R. & Skaperdas, Stergios (ed.), 2012. "The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Peace and Conflict," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195392777.
    5. Aisen, Ari & Veiga, Francisco José, 2013. "How does political instability affect economic growth?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 151-167.
    6. Osvaldo Lagares, 2016. "Capital, Economic Growth and Relative Income Differences in Latin America," Discussion Papers 16/03, Department of Economics, University of York.
    7. Francisco José Veiga, 2013. "Instituições, Estabilidade Política e Desempenho Económico Implicações para Portugal," NIPE Working Papers 11/2013, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    8. Giorgio d'Agostino & Luca Pieroni & J Paul Dunne, 2010. "Assessing the Effects of Military Expenditure on Growth," Working Papers 1012, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    9. Ho Thuy Ai & Ping, Lin, 2018. "Impacts of fiscal policy on economic growth: Another look from institutional perspective," Economics Discussion Papers 2018-45, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW).
    10. Samargandi, Nahla & Fidrmuc, Jan & Ghosh, Sugata, 2015. "Is the Relationship Between Financial Development and Economic Growth Monotonic? Evidence from a Sample of Middle-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 66-81.
    11. Larysa Tamilina & Natalya Tamilina, 2014. "Heterogeneity in Institutional Effects on Economic Growth: Theory and Empirical Evidence," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 11(2), pages 205-249, December.
    12. Dincecco, Mark & Katz, Gabriel, 2012. "State Capacity and Long-Run Performance," MPRA Paper 38299, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Mariusz Próchniak & Bartosz Witkowski, 2006. "Modelowanie realnej konwergencji w skali międzynarodowej," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 10, pages 1-31.
    14. Mouelhi, Rim Ben Ayed, 2007. "Impact of trade liberalization on firm's labour demand by skill: The case of Tunisian manufacturing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 539-563, June.
    15. Umaima Arif & Eatzaz Ahmad, 2018. "A Framework For Analyzing The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization On Macroeconomic Performance, Governance And Economic Growth," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(01), pages 3-39, May.
    16. Binder, Michael & Hsiao, Cheng & Pesaran, M. Hashem, 2005. "Estimation And Inference In Short Panel Vector Autoregressions With Unit Roots And Cointegration," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(4), pages 795-837, August.
    17. Céline Nauges & Alban Thomas, 2003. "Long-run Study of Residential Water Consumption," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 26(1), pages 25-43, September.
    18. Giorgio d’Agostino & John Paul Dunne & Luca Pieroni, 2019. "Military Expenditure, Endogeneity and Economic Growth," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(5), pages 509-524, July.
    19. Jochen Hartwig, 2009. "A panel Granger-causality test of endogenous vs. exogenous growth," KOF Working papers 09-231, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    20. David Pacini & Frank Windmeijer, 2015. "Moment Conditions for AR(1) Panel Data Models with Missing Outcomes," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 15/660, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corruption; military spending; development economics; panel data; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pra:mprapa:38109. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Joachim Winter). General contact details of provider: http://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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 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.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.