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The Relationship between Public Debt and Economic Growth: Nonlinearity and Country-Specificity

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  • Kummer-Noormamode, Sabina

Abstract

After having tested whether public debt GDP ratio and real GDP per capita are cointegrated by means of the bounds testing procedure, the possible nonlinearity in the relationship between public debt GDP ratio and economic growth is examined for 17 OECD countries taken separately over the 1970-2014 period. The corresponding debt-value threshold is endogenously estimated following Hansen (1996, 1999)'s methodology, while simultaneously controlling for additional growth determinants. The findings reveal that the impact of the public debt ratio on economic growth, cointegration and nonlinearity between these two variables, as well as the debt-value thresholds are all country-specific. Thus, analyzing the link between public debt ratio and economic growth for one country individually is revealed to be essential for governments to shape appropriate fiscal policy guidelines.

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  • Kummer-Noormamode, Sabina, 2018. "The Relationship between Public Debt and Economic Growth: Nonlinearity and Country-Specificity," MPRA Paper 98075, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:98075
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public Debt; Economic Growth; Cointegration; Endogenous; Threshold; Nonlinearity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Threshold Regression Models
    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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