Public Investment Multiplier during Boom and Decline of International Prices

Authors

  • Samuel Alarcon Gambarte Georgetown University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35319/lajed.202033416

Keywords:

Public Investment, Fiscal Multipliers, Local Projections

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to measure the fiscal multiplier of public investment and its changes in times of boom and bust in external prices. The method of Local Projections with Instrumental Variables based on Ramey and Zubairy (2018) is used for the first time in the case of Bolivian economy. The results present a cumulative public investment multiplier of 0.72 up to quarter 12. Likewise, the multiplier is 0.19 at quarter 12 and 0.97 at quarter 7 for boom and bust periods, respectively. It is concluded that the multiplier is positive and less than unity, however, when the economy experiences good (bad) export prices, the multiplier effect of public investment is less (greater), which suggests a decrease (increase) in the efficiency in government capital spending.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Auerbach, A. J. y Gorodnichenko, Y. (2013). Output spillovers from fiscal policy. American Economic Review, 103(3), 141-46.

Blanchard, O. y Perotti, R. (2002). An empirical characterization of the dynamic effects of changes in government spending and taxes on output. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(4), 1329-1368.

Endegnanew, M. Y. y Tessema, D. (2019). Public Investment in Bolivia: Prospects and Implications. International Monetary Fund.

Fisher, J. D., y Peters, R. (2010). Using stock returns to identify government spending shocks. The Economic Journal, 120(544), 414-436.

Gordon, R. J. y Krenn, R. (2010). The end of the great depression 1939-41: Policy contributions and fiscal multipliers. Working Paper 16380, National Bureau of Economic Research.

Ilzetzki, E; Mendoza, E. G. y Végh, C. A. (2013). How big (small?) are fiscal multipliers? Journal of Monetary Economics, 60(2), 239-254.

Jordà, Ò. (2005). Estimation and inference of impulse responses by local projections. American Economic Review, 95(1), 161-182.

Leeper, E. M; Walker, T. B. y Yang, S. C. S. (2013). Fiscal foresight and information flows. Econometrica, 81(3), 1115-1145.

Machicado, C. G. y Estrada, P. (2012). Política fiscal y crecimiento económico: un análisis de simulación para Bolivia. Analitika (Revista de Analisis Estadistico/Journal of Statistical Analysis), 4(4), 53-76.

Molina Diaz, G. y Gantier Mita, M. (2017). El gasto público y su efecto en la economía boliviana: periodo 1990-2015. Revista Perspectivas, (39), 7-42.

Montero Kuscevic, C. M. (2012). Inversión pública en Bolivia y su incidencia en el crecimiento económico: un análisis desde la perspectiva espacial. Revista de Análisis del Banco Central de Bolivia, (16), 31-57.

Mountford, A. y Uhlig, H. (2009). What are the effects of fiscal policy shocks?. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 24(6), 960-992.

Olea, J. L. M. y Pflueger, C. (2013). A robust test for weak instruments. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 31(3), 358-369.

Pflueger, C. E. y Wang, S. (2015). A robust test for weak instruments in Stata. The Stata Journal, 15(1), 216-225.

Puig, J. P. (2015). Multiplicador del gasto público en Bolivia: una primera aproximación. Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico, (24), 47-78.

Ramey, V. A. (2011). Can government purchases stimulate the economy? Journal of Economic Literature, 49(3), 673-85.

---------- (2019). Ten years after the financial crisis: What have we learned from the renaissance in fiscal research?. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(2), 89-114.

Ramey, V. A. y Zubairy, S. (2018). Government spending multipliers in good times and in bad: evidence from US historical data. Journal of Political Economy, 126(2), 850-901.

Ugarte Ontiveros, D. (2016). fte Cyclicality Of Fiscal Policy In Bolivia. Cuadernos de Investigación Económica Boliviana Nº 2016-1, Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas Públicas de Bolivia.

Uhlig, H. (2010). Some Fiscal Calculus. American Economic Review, 100(2), 30-34.

Published

2020-05-21

How to Cite

Alarcon Gambarte, S. (2020). Public Investment Multiplier during Boom and Decline of International Prices. Latin American Journal of Economic Development, 18(33), 79–104. https://doi.org/10.35319/lajed.202033416