Public Finance And Economic Growth

What role can better quality of public finances play in supporting Europe's long-term economic growth prospects? This question was at the centre of the 2008 European Commission workshop on public finances. It was largely motivated by the pressures put on European economies and their budgets from ageing populations and increased globalisation. However, the on-going financial crisis has given the issue an even greater prominence. Current fiscal stimulus packages not only include short-term measures, but also aim to have a lasting impact on growth. The latter is one aspect of ensuring a high quality of public finances. The workshop papers presented and analysed a number of policy options, ranging from the role of growth-enhancing public expenditure, in particular public infrastructure, and more generally the provision of public capital, the role of institutions, tax policy and the interaction of short-term counter-cyclical fiscal policy and long-term economic growth.

This paper develops an endogenous growth model of the influence of public investment, public transfers, and distortionary taxation on the rate of economic growth. The growth-enhancing effects of investment in public capital and transfer payments are modeled, as is the growth-inhibiting influence of the levying of distortionary taxes which are used to fund such expenditure. The theoretical implications of the model are then tested with data from 23 developed countries between 1971 and 1988, and time series cross sectional results are obtained which support the proposed influence of the public finance variables on economic growth.