The study investigates the linear and nonlinear causal linkages between the tax-spend nexus in Nigeria for the periods 1961-1992, 1993-2012 and1961-2012. Employing a nonparametric causality test of Diks and Panchenko (2006) as well as the parametric causality test using the VAR model, results...

Buiter (1981) illustrates that in the OLG model, the ranking of stationary utility levels under autarky and openness, is ambiguous. We show that both countries increase their stationary utility levels only if the autarky capital-labor ratios are on opposite sides of the golden rule.

In this paper we use the concept of distributable surplus, introduced by Allais (1943) and Luenberger (1992), to evaluate the capacity of European countries to repay their debts. We first show that the surplus generated between 2005 and 2009 was not sufficient to cover the 2009 deficit for...

This paper elaborates on the relationship between sustainability of public debt and the debt to GDP ratio in case the interest rate on public debt exceeds the growth rate of GDP. When the primary surplus relative to GDP positively reacts to a higher debt to GDP ratio, a bounded debt to GDP ratio...

We estimate fiscal responses for an OECD panel, accounting for cross-country interactions, and also estimate the fiscal responses in a panel VAR. We find that governments have increased primary balances when facing higher government indebtedness, implying a Ricardian fiscal regime, while primary...

This paper examines how indebted countries have reacted to the recent shift in the global debt relief architecture towards rewarding indebted countries that have ‘superior' institutions with increased debt relief by probing whether there is any empirical evidence to suggest that countries may...

Testing the reaction of the primary surplus to variations in public debt, relative to GDP respectively, has been frequently resorted to in order to test for sustainability of a given debt policy. In this contribution, we analyze theoretically under which condition a positive reaction of the...

Since the early 20th century, the Federal Government has chosen a self-imposed statutory limit on federal debt which has been increased, and occasionally reduced, in sporadic intervals. This paper uses a regression model to examine the time interval between changes in the statutory debt limit...

According to Keynesian economics wisdom, government debt has an effect on the economy since consumers see government debt as net wealth. However, according to the debt neutrality hypothesis of Ricardo (1817), popularised by Barro (1974), such effects would be absent. This paper's results,...