There exists a persistent disagreement in the literature over the effect of business cycles on economic growth. This paper offers a solution to this disagreement, suggesting that volatility carries a positive direct effect, but also a negative indirect effect, operating through the insurance...

This paper contributes to the still unresolved issue of the growth impact of government size by analysing a historical panel data set of 17 developed countries that ranges from 1880 to 2016. The unique feature of the long-time dimension allows for conducting a kind of natural experiment....

This paper explores how civic capital shapes the relationship between government size and economic performance. Building on an exogenousgrowth version of Barro (1990), we incorporate O-ring technology to capture task complementarity in the public sector, highlighting the role of civic capital in...

There exists a persistent disagreement in the literature over the effect of business cycles on economic growth. This paper offers a solution to this disagreement, suggesting that volatility carries a positive direct effect, but also a negative indirect effect, operating through the insurance...

Most studies find that larger government is associated with slower long-run growth. However, which elements of government intervention drive the result and if the conclusion applies to all political regimes remains an open question, which this paper addresses. The findings indicate that...

Several recent studies have found a negative relation between government size and economic growth in rich countries. Since countries with big government have experienced above average improvements in both the Economic freedom index and the KOF globalization index, we argue that existing studies...

We examine the impact of government size on economic fluctuations and the role of fiscal policy in promoting macroeconomic stability in the period 1980-2024. The results indicate that indirect taxes, capital taxes, and social security contributions (as a percentage of GDP) are associated with...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world adopted a variety of policies expanding the scope of their power. Some of these effects are immediate and observable. Others, however, are not readily observable and only appear over time. We explore these long-run consequences...

The aim of this paper is to empirically assess the relationship between government size and economic growth. Using time series methodologies applied to annual data for Italy, the effect public expenditure, unemployment and fiscal reforms on economic activity have been analysed. The data used in...

This paper explores the relationship between the degree of division or fractionalization of a country's population (along ethnoliguistic and religious dimensions) and both political instability and government consumption, using a neoclassical growth model. The principal idea is that greater...