1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910788237703321

Autore

Pisani-Ferry Jean

Titolo

Government Size and Output Volatility : : Should We Forsake Automatic Stabilization? / / Jean Pisani-Ferry, Xavier Debrun, André Sapir

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Washington, D.C. : , : International Monetary Fund, , 2008

ISBN

1-4623-3461-X

1-4527-5211-7

1-4518-6982-7

1-282-84076-2

9786612840760

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (55 p.)

Collana

IMF Working Papers

IMF working paper ; ; WP/08/122

Altri autori (Persone)

DebrunXavier

SapirAndré

Disciplina

337.142

Soggetti

Economic stabilization - European Union countries

Monetary policy - European Union countries

Macroeconomics

Public Finance

Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Stabilization

Treasury Policy

National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General

Fiscal Policy

Macroeconomics: Consumption

Saving

Wealth

Public finance & taxation

Expenditure

Automatic stabilizers

Fiscal stabilization

Fiscal policy

Consumption

Expenditures, Public

Economics

United States



Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; I. Introduction; II. Does Volatility Matter? Does Government Matter?; III. Automatic Stabilizers and the Great Moderation; A. Do bigger governments deliver greater macroeconomic stability?; B. Fiscal stabilization is not a free lunch; C. The Great Moderation: Why has output volatility declined?; Figures; 1. United States: Volatility of GDP and Consumption; 2. The Taylor Curve and the Inflation-Output Volatility Trade-off; IV. Government Size, Fiscal Stabilization and Volatility; A. The End of Big Government?; 3. Selected OECD Countries: Total Expenditure to GDP Ratio (1963-2006)

4. Selected OECD Countries: Social-Security vs. Non-Social-Security Expenditure5. Selected OECD Countries: Openness to Trade and Government Size (1963-2006); B. The Great Moderation: Beyond the United States; 6. Selected OECD Countries: The Great Moderation (1963-2006); 7. Selected OECD Countries: The Great Moderation in More Open Economies; 8. Selected OECD Countries: Volatility by Country Groupings; 9. The Changing Relationship between Volatility and Government Size; C. What Stabilizes Private Consumption?; 10. Selected OECD Countries: Government Size and Change in Output Volatility

11. United States: Variance Decomposition of Household Consumption 12. Selected Euro Area Countries Variance Decomposition of Household Consumption; V. A Fresh Look at the Link between Government Size and Volatility; A. Specification and Econometric Issues; B. Results; Tables; 1. Government Size and Volatility: Basic Results; 2. Government Size and the; 3. Government Size and Volatility: Interactions and Non-linearities (Pooled OLS, 1961- 2007); 13. Estimated Impact on Volatility of an Increase in Government Expenditure by percentage point of GDP

4. Output Volatility and Alternative Measures of Government Size (pooled OLS)VI. Conclusions; References; Appendix; Appendix Tables; A1. Government Size and Volatility: Basic Results with Output Gap Volatility; A2. Government Size and Volatility: Additional Controls; A3. Government and Volatility: Instrumental Variables (Pooled TSLS, period fixed effects, 1961-2007); A4. Government Size and the Great Moderation (Pooled OLS, 1961-2007); A5. Government and Volatility: Instrumental Variables (Pooled TSLS, period fixed effects, 1961-2007)

A6. Government Size and Volatility: Interactions and Non-linearities (Pooled OLS, 1961- 2007)

Sommario/riassunto

The paper takes stock of the debate on the positive link between output volatility and the size of government-which reflects automatic stabilizers. After a survey of the literature, we show that the contribution of automatic stabilizers to output stability may have disappeared since the 1990s. However, econometric analysis suggests that the breakdown in the government size-volatility relationship largely reflects temporary developments (better monetary management and financial intermediation). Once these factors are taken into account, the stabilizing role of government size remains important although little extra stability can be gained by expanding public expenditure beyond 40 percent of GDP.