Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series

Title:
Government expenditure and economic growth in the European Union countries: New evidence

Authors

Marta Pascual Sáez - University of Cantabria, Faculty of Economics and Business, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005, Santander, Spain; e-mail: marta.pascual@unican.es (corresponding author)

Santiago Álvarez-García - University of Oviedo, Faculty of Economics and Business, Avda. del Cristo s/n, 33071, Oviedo, Spain; e-mail: santiag@uniovi.es

Daniela Castaneda Rodríguez - University of Cantabria, Faculty of Economics and Business, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005, Santander, Spain; e-mail: madacas@hotmail.com

Keywords
government expenditure; panel techniques; economic growth

Abstract
This paper provides new evidence of the impact of government spending on economic growth in the European Union countries. Governments can adjust their levels of spending in order to influence their economies, although the relationship between these variables can be positive or negative, depending on the countries included in the sample, the period of estimation and the variables which reflect the size of the public sector. The results obtained based on regression and panel techniques suggest that government expenditure is not clearly related with economic growth in the European Union countries over the period 1994-2012.

Pages:
127-133

DOI:
10.1515/bog-2017-0020

BGSS No. 36 (2017)