Government Revenues and Expenditures in the East European Economies: A Bootstrap Panel Granger Causality Approach

Abstract

Using a bootstrap panel Granger causality approach, this article investigates the causality between government revenues and government spending from 1995 to 2012 for ten East European economies that are members of the European Union. It finds unidirectional causality from public expenditures to revenues in Bulgaria. For the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia, government revenues explain expenditures, and a two-way causality exists for the Slovak Republic. No Granger causality is found for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.