Algeria: A three-sector macrofiscal model for debt sustainability and growth policy analysis

In this paper, we present a dynamic general equilibrium (DGE) model to address the macrofiscal vulnerabilities and the effects of fiscal policy on growth and employment in Algeria. We first discuss the baseline scenario over the period 2021–2040. According to our baseline results, without fundamental changes in fiscal policies, even relatively high growth will not be sufficient to put public debt on a sustainable path. We then conduct four experiments and assess their impact on fiscal accounts, growth, and unemployment: an increase in the efficiency of public spending on infrastructure investment, a gradual reduction in the share of noninterest government spending in GDP, the same gradual reduction in spending combined with a permanent increase in the share of investment in infrastructure in total noninterest government expenditure, and a composite fiscal reform program that combines these individual policies, respectively. The results suggest that public debt sustainability can be achieved, and growth and employment can be promoted, as long as an ambitious fiscal reform program involving tax, spending, and governance reforms is implemented. Importantly, our quantitative analysis shows that, with a well-designed fiscal program, there may be no trade-off between fiscal consolidation and economic growth.     

我国省际间财政差异趋势与影响因素的实证研究

本文通过1980-2005年间的样本数据,揭示1980年以来我国省际间财政差异的变化趋势,以及这种变化趋势的影响因素.我们的研究表明,在财政收入方面,受地区经济差异加大的影响,1994年以后财政收入差异有扩大态势,而分税制改革有助于缩小省际间财政收入差异.在财政支出方面,1995年以后财政支出差异呈上升趋势,这是地区间经济发展水平差异与分税制共同作用的结果,但是前者的作用远远大于后者.因此,缩小省际间财政差异的途径除转移支付外,还应当主要致力于缩小省际间经济发展水平差异.     

Fiscal space on the eurozone periphery and the use of the (partially) balanced-budget multiplier: The case of Spain

This article adopts the “functional finance” approach to consider the utilization of expansive fiscal policies in the members of the European Monetary Union most affected by high unemployment. As they do not have their own monetary policy, fiscal deficits require the issuing of public debt without the support of the central bank. The authors consequently incorporate the notion of a (partially) balanced-budget expansion to achieve the desired stimulus in gross domestic product (GDP) with the least possible effect on public debt. Their proposal is only a sort of “imperfect” balanced-budget expansion: It is based on the idea that simultaneous increases in public revenue and expenditure can boost GDP, but without any pretension of keeping public deficit unchanged. Specifically, the authors use the case of Spain to show that a more expansive fiscal policy is desirable on economic grounds, and that only institutional constraints prevent it. They do it presenting two alternative scenarios for the coming years and analyzing their different impact on unemployment and fiscal sustainability. The first represents a firm commitment to budget consolidation, whereas the second is based on this “imperfect” application of the balanced budget multiplier. The main conclusion is that a more expansive fiscal policy is perfectly compatible with finance sustainability.     

Fiscal multipliers in the Eurozone: an SVAR analysis

We compute the value of fiscal multipliers (for government primary expenditure, Income and wealth taxes and for Production and import taxes) in the Eurozone countries since the creation of the currency union (2000Q1-2016Q4), in order to understand how the values can vary according to the public debt level, the pace of economic growth, and the output gap. Imposing quarterly fiscal shocks, the results showed that government expenditure had a positive effect on output, with an annual accumulated multiplier of 0.44, whereas tax multipliers presented negative signs: the Income and wealth and the Production and import taxes stood at ?0.11 and ?0.55, respectively. Furthermore, the spending multiplier showed a higher value for countries with lower levels of public debt, during recessions, and in countries with negative output gaps. On the other hand, tax shocks seemed to be recessive in highly indebted countries and those facing positive output gaps.     

Welfare Analysis of a Fiscal Reconstruction Policy in an Overlapping Generations Economy with Public Investment

Constructing an endogenously growing overlapping generations model with public investment, we examine the welfare effects of a fiscal reconstruction policy. In this paper we define a fiscal reconstruction policy as a policy where the government reduces its spending level without changing the tax revenue and allocates the surplus of the revenue to redeem public debt. We show that if government spending is not productive it is possible that a fiscal reconstruction policy improves the utilities of both the current and future generations, while if government spending is productive it can harm the utilities of both generations. Received February 26, 2002; revised version received July 8, 2002 Published online: February 17, 2003     

财政支出与经济发展关系*——对瓦格纳法则的新解释

财政支出规模和结构反映了一个政府为实现其职能所进行的活动范围和公共政策的倾向。研究财政支出最重要的理论之一就是瓦格纳法则。本文使用2011年GFS和WDI数据库的截面数据,从政府财政支出总额及其构成验证了瓦格纳法则的成立,并通过国际比较,为优化我国财政支出结构提供建议。根据以往文献对瓦格纳法则的定义,笔者把政府财政支出占GDP比重对人均GDP（对数值）回归得到估计系数,称为瓦格纳法则系数,据此考察瓦格纳法则。回归结果显示,财政总支出的瓦格纳法则系数为371。这表明经济发展与财政总支出规模之间存在显著的正相关关系。换言之,财政总支出占GDP比重随着经济发展有上升的趋势。分项财政支出占GDP比重对人均GDP对数值的回归结果显示,人均GDP与医疗保健支出、教育支出和社会保护支出之间成正比关系,但与公共秩序和安全、住房和社区设施支出之间成反比。在此基础上,笔者计算了各分项财政支出对瓦格纳法则系数的贡献度,其中以社会保护支出的贡献度最大（7166%）,经济事务支出贡献度最低（-738%）。研究表明,瓦格纳法则成立的主要原因是社会保护支出与经济发展之间的正向关系。     

Fiscal multipliers in a structural VEC model with mixed normal errors

This paper estimates the effects of fiscal policy shocks on GDP in the United States with a vector error correction (VEC) model in which shocks are identified by exploiting the non-normal distribution of the model residuals. Unlike previous research, the model used here takes into account cointegation between the variables, and applies a data driven method to identify fiscal policy shocks. The approach also allows statistical testing of previous identification strategies, which may help discriminate between them and hence also explain differences between various fiscal multiplier estimates. Our results show that a deficit financed government spending shock has a weak negative effect on output, whereas a tax increase to finance government spending has a positive impact on GDP.     

财政分权是否影响了公共教育供给——基于理论模型与地级面板数据的研究

1994年分税制改革在提升了中央财权的同时,却使地方政府事权负担加重。这种支出的财政分权可能使地方政府减少公共服务的供给,比如公共教育供给。文章首先分析了产生该现象的主要原因,然后构建理论模型,基于1996-2007年全国地级面板数据进行实证研究,结果证明财政分权确实减少了公共教育供给。文章进一步做了不同教育阶段和不同地区的对比。依据分析结果,文章对改进公共教育供给提出了财政体制方面的政策建议。     

经济增长、经济政策与公司业绩关系的实证研究

本文以1995年至2004年上市公司为样本,考察了经济增长、经济政策与公司业绩之间的关系。通过构筑IS-LM模型,本文测算了我国的各项财政政策与货币政策乘数,以量化我国宏观经济政策的变化,并在此基础上,研究了经济增长、经济政策对公司会计业绩和股票报酬的影响,发现经济政策显著影响公司会计业绩与股票报酬,但不同的经济政策对会计业绩和股票报酬的影响不尽相同;另外,我们还发现,在控制了经济政策因素后,经济增长并没有和公司业绩相背离。本文的发现为诠释我国股市是否是宏观经济的"晴雨表"提供了一个新的研究视角。     

Public Preferences for Government Spending Priorities: Survey Evidence from Germany

Employing data from a representative survey conducted in Germany, this paper examines public preferences for the size and composition of government expenditure. We focus on public attitudes towards taxes, public debt incurrence and public spending in six different policy areas. Our findings suggest, first, that individual preferences for the use of additional tax money can be categorised as either capital‐oriented expenditure or public debt reduction. Second, we find that fiscal preferences differ along various dimensions. Specifically, personal economic well‐being, economic literacy, confidence in politicians, political ideology and time preference are significantly related to individual attitudes towards public spending, taxes and debt. The magnitude of the effects is particularly large for time preference, economic knowledge and party preference. Third, public preferences for public spending priorities are only marginally affected when considering a public budget constraint.     

Variation in the fiscal multiplier with the method of financing: evidence across industrial countries

Government spending has often varied with the business cycle to stimulate the economy and to revive economic conditions. However, the state of public finances has often necessitated higher borrowing to finance widening fiscal deficits. Indeed, recent austerity packages around the globe have crystalized the importance of fiscal consolidation against the backdrop of rising public debt. To shed light on recent debates regarding fiscal multipliers, the article estimates variation in these multipliers with the method of financing, using annual data for a sample of industrial countries. There is a large variation in the effects of expansionary and contractinary government spending shocks on economic variables within and across countries. The significant effects of negative government spending shocks (fiscal contraction) appear more prevalent than those of expansionary shocks on real output growth, price inflation and nominal wage inflation. Consistent with theory’s predictions, the fiscal multiplier is more likely to be negative when government spending is financed by issuing debt and less likely in the case of monetization. The evidence confirms concerns about the negative effect of higher debt and more expensive financing on private activity, countering the effectiveness of fiscal policy.     

Macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy in Pakistan: a disaggregate analysis

This study analyzes the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy on macroeconomic variables in Pakistan. The study utilizes VAR framework and uses quarterly data of Pakistan from 1976Q1 to 2017Q4. The results showed that after an increase in government expenditures, private consumption and prices take three quarters to increase, while private investment follows the declining trend. Private consumption and interest rate are negatively related with taxes, while private investment and prices are positively related with taxes. Real GDP, private consumption and interest rate respond positively with an increase in developmental expenditure, public consumption and public investment. Private investment is negatively related with development expenditure, public consumption and public investment. An increase in direct tax as well as indirect tax leads to an increase in real GDP, private investment and interest rate, while private consumption takes three to five quarters to responds. Private investment and prices are positively related with non-tax revenue, while real GDP, private consumption and interest rate are negatively related. These results support the Keynesian view that government expenditure and taxes are useful tools to stimulate the economic activity, while crowding-out hypothesis holds in Pakistan as well. An active and efficient role of government is required for macroeconomic stability.     

财政支出分权如何影响政府支出预算偏离*

政府支出决算与预算的差异可称之为支出预算偏离，其大小直接关系到现代预算制度的建设和积极财政政策提质增效的效果。预算最大化理论指出地方政府追求自由裁量预算的最大化，这会导致预算支出大于决算支出，而财政支出分权则便利了地方政府追求自由裁量预算最大化的条件，因此，财政支出分权是导致支出预算偏离的一个重要因素。利用1994—2017年全省层面和市县加总层面的财政预决算数据，本文发现，财政支出分权程度越高，政府支出预算偏离的程度也越大。不同形式的稳健性检验较好地支持了上述结论。此外，经济发展水平和财政透明度能够降低财政支出分权对预算偏离影响的程度。合理调整不同层级政府之间的事权，建立事权与支出责任相匹配的财政体制，适度加强中央事权和支出责任，将有效降低政府支出预算偏离的程度。     

财政支出分权如何影响政府支出预算偏离

政府支出决算与预算的差异可称之为支出预算偏离,其大小直接关系到现代预算制度的建设和积极财政政策提质增效的效果。预算最大化理论指出地方政府追求自由裁量预算的最大化,这会导致预算支出大于决算支出,而财政支出分权则便利了地方政府追求自由裁量预算最大化的条件,因此,财政支出分权是导致支出预算偏离的一个重要因素。利用1994—2017年全省层面和市县加总层面的财政预决算数据,本文发现,财政支出分权程度越高,政府支出预算偏离的程度也越大。不同形式的稳健性检验较好地支持了上述结论。此外,经济发展水平和财政透明度能够降低财政支出分权对预算偏离影响的程度。合理调整不同层级政府之间的事权,建立事权与支出责任相匹配的财政体制,适度加强中央事权和支出责任,将有效降低政府支出预算偏离的程度。     

Fiscal policy and asset price volatility

This paper investigates the relationship between volatility of different asset prices and the volatility of various indicators of fiscal policy (primary balance, spending and revenue). We find evidence that asset price volatility affects the volatility of fiscal policy stance in a positive and significant way. The effect comes primarily through residential property and equity price volatility on government revenue and spending. Increased volatility in commercial property prices is associated with increased variability of government revenue. Output growth volatility is the dominant determinant of revenue and primary balance variability, whereas bad budgetary conditions and the size of the public sector are the most significant determinants of spending variability. Trade openness leads to greater variability of government spending, revenue and primary balance to GDP ratios.     

Fiscal sustainability,volatility and oil wealth

Whether fiscal policy is sustainable depends on a government’s future revenue and expenditure streams, both of which are highly uncertain. In commodity‐rich countries, this problem is intensified by unpredictable and volatile commodity prices. We show how spending rules for oil income and non‐oil primary deficits interact and influence the stochastic distribution of future debt stocks and demonstrate the variance reducing impact of feedback rules for primary deficits in a case study of oil‐and‐gas exporter Azerbaijan.     

地方政府财政支出的结构偏异——基于跨界公共事务的视角

本文通过理论分析发现,我国地方政府不仅存在生产性支出偏好,还会在外部性和信息不对称等因素影响下,改变其对跨界公共事务的资金投入。在“量入为出”预算编制原则下,本文利用2010—2019年我国31个省级政府面板数据,实证分析了地方政府一般公共预算收入对跨地区民生性支出、跨地区生产性支出、地区民生性支出和地区生产性支出四类财政支出的影响。结果表明：在全国层面上,跨地区生产性支出受财政收入的影响最大,地区民生性支出次之。比较三类地区的结果发现,区域内政府竞争强度越高,地方政府对外部性的重视程度越强,因而当地用于跨界公共事务的资金会越少。从不同类型财政收入对财政支出的影响结果来看,只有间接税收入可以同时对三类地区财政支出产生显著影响。最后根据研究结论,本文提出了相应的政策建议。     

ON FISCAL MULTIPLIERS: ESTIMATES FROM A MEDIUM SCALE DSGE MODEL

This article contributes to the debate on fiscal multipliers, in the context of an estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, featuring a rich fiscal policy block and a transmission mechanism for government spending shocks. I find the multiplier for government spending to be 1.07, which is largest on impact. The multipliers for labor and capital tax on impact are 0.13 and 0.34, respectively. The effects of tax cuts take time to build and exceed stimulative effects of spending by 12–20 quarters. I carry out counterfactual exercises to show how alternative financing methods and expected monetary policy have consequences for the size of fiscal multipliers.     

财政政策对经济增长和收入分配的长期影响效应分析

政府财政政策对经济增长和收入分配有不同的影响,其中,政府消费性支出和投资性支出均对经济增长有正的促进作用,但政府支出却加大了居民收入分配的差距;税收对我国经济增长的影响均为负,其中,间接税缩小了居民收入分配差距,而直接税却拉大了居民的收入分配差距。     

Optimal fiscal policy under monopolistic competition with firm heterogeneity

Government spending is a policy instrument used to sustain economic development and improve social welfare. Empirical observations, however, reveal a significant decrease in the government spending to GDP ratio for the United States. In addition, the United States has been observed to exhibit a rise in firm heterogeneity in productivity in recent decades. This paper shows that the optimal size of government expenditure will decrease as firm heterogeneity increases. We thus indicate that the rise in firm heterogeneity in productivity may serve as a plausible vehicle to explain the decline in the share of government spending in GDP for the United States.