This paper tests the cyclicality of fiscal policy in Israel. We find that deficits are mildly countercyclical, mainly in recessions. Expenditures, and in particular public investment, are procyclical. However, we find that both government deficit and expenditures have become more countercyclical...

There were marked shifts in both the share of national expenditure on education in GDP, as well as in its composition, in 1962-98. At the beginning of the period the share of education in GDP soared, remained relatively constant in the 1970s, declined in the 1980s, and began to rise again in the...

This paper tests the cyclicality of fiscal policy in Israel. We find that government deficits are mildly counter-cyclical, mainly in recessions. Expenditures, and in particular, public investment, are pro-cyclical. However, we find that both the government deficit and expenditures have become...