Can Government Demand Stimulate Private Investment? Evidence from U.S. Federal Procurement


Book Description

We study the effects of federal purchases on firms’ investment using a novel panel dataset that combines federal procurement contracts in the United States with key financial firm-level information. We find that 1 dollar of federal spending increases firms’ capital investment by 7 to 11 cents. The average effect masks heterogeneity: Effects are stronger for firms that face financing constraints and they are close to 0 for unconstrained firms. In line with the financial accelerator model, our findings indicate that the effect of government purchases works through easing firms’ access to external borrowing. Furthermore, industry-level analysis suggests that that the increase in investment at the firm level translates into an industry-wide effect without crowding-out capital investment of other firms in the same industry.




The Macroeconomic Effects of Public Investment


Book Description

This paper provides new evidence of the macroeconomic effects of public investment in advanced economies. Using public investment forecast errors to identify the causal effect of government investment in a sample of 17 OECD economies since 1985 and model simulations, the paper finds that increased public investment raises output, both in the short term and in the long term, crowds in private investment, and reduces unemployment. Several factors shape the macroeconomic effects of public investment. When there is economic slack and monetary accommodation, demand effects are stronger, and the public-debt-to-GDP ratio may actually decline. Public investment is also more effective in boosting output in countries with higher public investment efficiency and when it is financed by issuing debt.







Does Public Capital Crowd Out Private Capital? Evidence from India


Book Description

A recent but rapidly growing empirical literature focuses on the relationship between public and private capital. But for the most part, it ignores the heterogeneity of public investment. In many countries, especially in the developing world, public investment includes not only basic infrastructure projects, but also commercial and industrial projects similar to those undertaken by the private sector. And those two types of public investment are likely to have quite different effects on the accumulation of private capital. Using data from India, the author examines this issue empirically by implementing a simple analytical model encompassing two types of public capital. The empirical results show that in the long run capital for public infrastructure projects crowds in private capital - other types of public capital have the opposite effect. But in the short run, both kinds of public investment may crowd out private investment.




Does Fiscal Policy Matter?


Book Description




Does Public-Sector Employment Fully Crowd Out Private-Sector Employment?


Book Description

We quantify the extent to which public-sector employment crowds out private-sector employment using specially assembled datasets for a large cross-section of developing and advanced countries, and discuss the implications for countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus and Central Asia. These countries simultaneously display high unemployment rates, low private-sector employment rates and high proportions of government-sector employment. Regressions of either private-sector employment rates or unemployment rates on two measures of public-sector employment point to full crowding out. This means that high rates of public employment, which incur substantial fiscal costs, have a large negative impact on private employment rates and do not reduce overall unemployment rates.




Private Finance for Development


Book Description

The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the tension between large development needs in infrastructure and scarce public resources. To alleviate this tension and promote a strong and job-rich recovery from the crisis, Africa needs to mobilize more financing from and to the private sector.




The Impact of Social Security on Private Saving


Book Description

Report on the impact of social security on private sector savings in the USA - presents the controversial points of view of r j barro and m feldstein concerning capital formation, taking into consideration consumer expenditure in the period from 1929 to 1974, and includes estimates on the reduction of personal savings due to social security wealth. References and statistical tables.




The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics


Book Description

The award-winning The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition is now available as a dynamic online resource. Consisting of over 1,900 articles written by leading figures in the field including Nobel prize winners, this is the definitive scholarly reference work for a new generation of economists. Regularly updated! This product is a subscription based product.