{"title":"Government Spending and Productivity Shock in a Small Open Economy","authors":"Pu Li, Yun Zhu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3143896","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3143896","url":null,"abstract":"This paper tries to better explain the business cycle data in a small open economy. We consider two shocks generating the dynamics of the model, a domestic productivity shock, on the domestic productivity, and a government spending shock, generating positive correlations between savings and investment without overestimating or underestimating the pro-cyclical behaviors of the two as in Mendoza (1991). We use stationary cardinal utility functions (SCU) to make discount factor endogenous to the model. We also incorporate different capital adjustment cost in private and public sector to explain the counter-cyclical fluctuations of trade balance. In line with Mendoza (1991), we use post-war Canadian business cycle data as the target of our calibration. The results have been significantly improved in most of the moments among interested variables.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132795019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Government Spending Policy Uncertainty and Economic Activity: U.S. Time Series Evidence","authors":"Wongi Kim","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2901382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2901382","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, I empirically examine the effects of uncertainty about government spending policy on economic activity using U.S. time series data. To this end, I constructed government spending policy uncertainty indexes and estimate proxy SVAR model. Proxy SVAR model with constructed indexes shows that an increase in government spending policy uncertainty has negative, sizable, and prolonged effects on economic activity. Moreover, the results imply that the commonly adopted recursive SVAR model in literature on policy uncertainty systematically underestimates the adverse effect of government spending policy uncertainty because of the endogeneity issue. One policy suggestion based on the empirical finding is clear announcement of future government spending path.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116612489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sorting Out State Subsidies","authors":"R. Mendoza","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2841579","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2841579","url":null,"abstract":"Public sector subsidies (e.g. direct public financing of certain activities or sectors in the economy) are among the key interventions to accomplish public policy goals, including boosting social safety nets for vulnerable groups, empowering different sectors to become much more resilient to climatic shocks and competition, and enhancing the country’s agricultural development and industrialization prospects. The effectiveness of subsidies depend critically, not just on where they are deployed, but also how they are applied. Two sets of support programs — the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for poor mothers and children and the various agricultural support programs and subsidies — offer useful insights in this regard. This paper briefly reviews the evidence and lessons from these subsidy programs.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126000044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Crowding Out of Monetary Policy as a Limitation of Fiscal Policy","authors":"Martin Hiermeyer","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2869391","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2869391","url":null,"abstract":"If expansionary fiscal policy is inflationary, expansionary fiscal policy forces an inflation-targeting central bank to be somewhat more restrictive in its monetary policy. This altered central bank policy comes at a cost in terms of output which has to be calculated against the output gain achieved by the expansionary fiscal policy.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"53 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129166457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Economic Framework for Comparing Public-Private Partnerships and Conventional Procurement","authors":"Jane K. Dokko, Owen P. Kearney, Neal C. Stolleman","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2784728","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2784728","url":null,"abstract":"Private partnership (PPP) can be complex and difficult to structure. Indeed, partly reflecting these challenges, experience with PPPs in the United States is limited, which may be self-reinforcing by deterring public sponsors not familiar with PPPs from ever considering one to procure infrastructure assets.This discussion paper aims to demystify infrastructure PPPs by explicitly describing the conditions under which a PPP can be a better choice for procurement over conventional methods from the perspective of how economists typically look at these issues. No single factor definitively informs whether a PPP is likely to yield higher benefits to society and the taxpayer than conventional procurement. Instead, a balance of elements – the project’s characteristics, the economic environment in which the project is being developed, and the ability of the project sponsor to take certain actions – jointly determines whether a PPP’s delivery and operation of the project is mutually beneficial to both the public and private sectors.This paper also describes important steps for a government sponsor to take before a project being procured through a PPP is started. An essential prerequisite to achieving the potential net benefits of a PPP is for the government sponsor’s to fully understand the project’s characteristics and economic environment before initiating the procurement. In addition, successful PPP implementation requires executing a set of complementary best practices before the project gets underway. Not taking these steps may lead to higher costs, failure to meet performance targets later in the project’s life cycle, and a misallocation of scarce public resources.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121932699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sven Heim, Kai Hüschelrath, Philipp Schmidt-Dengler, M. Strazzeri
{"title":"The Impact of State Aid on the Survival and Financial Viability of Aided Firms","authors":"Sven Heim, Kai Hüschelrath, Philipp Schmidt-Dengler, M. Strazzeri","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2771111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2771111","url":null,"abstract":"We estimate the causal impact of restructuring aid granted by the European Commission between 2003 and 2012 on the survival and financial viability of aided firms. Using a comprehensive dataset we find that restructuring aid increases a firm's average survival time by 8 to 15 years and decreases the hazard rate by 58 to 68 percent, depending on the definition of firm survival. Further analysis finds strong support that, in the longer run, aid receiving firms have a significantly higher probability to improve their financial viability than the counterfactual group.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115842641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Incentives or Regulation? The Effects of Fiscal Rules and Subnational Tax Autonomy on Government Finances","authors":"Philipp Trein","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2754330","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2754330","url":null,"abstract":"An important problem for governments around the world is how to deal with the balance of public finances. Especially during the last 30 years, public finances have come under considerable strain, due to high spending obligations, for example for pensions or health care. To deal with raising deficits and debts, many countries regulated their own discretion to run deficits and debts. In addition, encouraged by research on fiscal federalism, governments delegated taxation powers to subnational and municipal governments. This paper examines the impact that fiscal rules and tax autonomy have on national deficits during the time period 1995-2012, based on a sample of 29 OECD countries. The results suggest that, overall, fiscal rules come along with lower government deficits. Contrary to existing research, the results show that higher tax discretion for member states in federal countries and municipalities are correlated with higher overall government deficits. These results provide insights into fiscal governance that are important for researchers and policymakers alike.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122352875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond the Great Divide: Federalism Concerns in Municipal Insolvency","authors":"Andrew B. Dawson","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2741804","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2741804","url":null,"abstract":"A growing number of municipalities are experiencing extreme financial distress, a problem which states have sought to address either under state law or with the aid of federal bankruptcy relief. There is an unresolved tension in how these two options interact. If a state chooses the bankruptcy option, do state laws nonetheless operate to protect the interests of certain classes of creditors? If a state does not use bankruptcy, might bankruptcy law nonetheless limit the state’s ability to adjust the municipality’s debts?These questions raise important federalism concerns that have frequently been analyzed under what this article calls the Great Divide Model of municipal bankruptcy federalism. This model formalistically allocates to Congress the exclusive power to adjust debts and to states the exclusive power to address local governance.This article challenges this model as inconsistent with the practical realities of municipal financial distress and its resolutions. Debt and governance often go hand in hand, both in causing and resolving financial distress. The federalism questions in municipal insolvency are better framed within a functionalist model of municipal bankruptcy, which involves analyzing the limits of the bankruptcy power in this realm and the state interests in local governance.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"2012 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128159016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
V. Atella, F. Belotti, Valentina Conti, C. Cricelli, Joanna Kopinska, Andrea Piano Mortari
{"title":"Modeling Public Health Care Expenditure Using Patient Level Data: Empirical Evidence from Italy","authors":"V. Atella, F. Belotti, Valentina Conti, C. Cricelli, Joanna Kopinska, Andrea Piano Mortari","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2730682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2730682","url":null,"abstract":"In this work we present some results obtained with a unique database of patient level data collected through GPs. The availability of such data opens new scenarios and paradigms for the planning and management of the health care system and for policy impact evaluation studies. The dataset, representative of the Italian population, contains detailed information on prescribed drugs, laboratory tests, outpatient visits and hospitalizations of more than 2 millions patients, managed by 900 GPs overtime. This pool of registers has produced a stock of information on about 25 millions of medical diagnosis, 100 millions of laboratory and diagnostic tests, 10 millions of blood pressure measurements and 50 millions of drug prescriptions. Using this novel dataset we analyze the expenditures of the Italian NHS over time, across age and geographical areas for the period from 2004 to 2011.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130393407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The German Fiscal Equalisation System: Taking Account of Differences in Governmental Purchasing Powers","authors":"Jochen Zimmer","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2731109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2731109","url":null,"abstract":"This paper looks at reform proposals for the fiscal transfer system in Germany to take account of differences in governmental purchasing powers across states, i.e. differences in governmental costs of public goods and services. Since data on differences in governmental purchasing power is missing for the states, differences in intergovernmental purchasing power are proxied by disparities in regional purchasing power in the private sector. Two different reform proposals for a modified transfer system are examined. The first one extends the current fiscal transfer system by additionally allowing for disparities in governmental purchasing powers across states; the second one completely abstracts from higher expenditure needs per capita for city states and links fiscal transfer payments entirely to disparities in governmental purchasing power across states. Simulating the modified fiscal transfer systems would yield a wide spectrum of financial consequences.","PeriodicalId":379216,"journal":{"name":"PSN: Public Spending (Comparative) (Topic)","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131162913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}