Level Of Government Expenditure Research Articles

Analysis of some socio-economic factors affecting maternal health in Nigeria

This study examined socio-economic factors affecting maternal health in Nigeria. Mothers and children are at the highest risk of disease and death. Deaths of infants and children under-5 years are peculiar and closely related to maternal health, and the risk of death of children increases if their mothers die in childbirth. This study employed secondary data obtained from World Bank, CBN, and Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey from 1990 to 2022. Using the Error Correction Model (ECM), the data were subjected to regression analysis, where we estimated the relationship between dependent variable (maternal mortality) and independent variables (poverty rate, literacy rate, and level of government expenditure on health). The results show that poverty, literacy and government provision of healthcare facilities are major socio-economic factors affecting maternal health in Nigeria. This study therefore, recommended increase in budgetary allocation to the health sector, diversification of the economy aimed at poverty reduction, and the enforcement of free and compulsory basic education especially for the girl child, as the panacea for poor maternal health in Nigeria. Keywords: Mortality, Poverty, Literacy.

Analysis of some socio-economic factors affecting maternal health in Nigeria

This study examined socio-economic factors affecting maternal health in Nigeria. Mothers and children are at the highest risk of disease and death. Deaths of infants and children under-5 years are peculiar and closely related to maternal health, and the risk of death of children increases if their mothers die in childbirth. This study employed secondary data obtained from World Bank, CBN, and Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey from 1990 to 2022. Using the Error Correction Model (ECM), the data were subjected to regression analysis, where we estimated the relationship between dependent variable (maternal mortality) and independent variables (poverty rate, literacy rate, and level of government expenditure on health). The results show that poverty, literacy and government provision of healthcare facilities are major socio-economic factors affecting maternal health in Nigeria. This study therefore, recommended increase in budgetary allocation to the health sector, diversification of the economy aimed at poverty reduction, and the enforcement of free and compulsory basic education especially for the girl child, as the panacea for poor maternal health in Nigeria. Keywords: Mortality, Poverty, Literacy.

Exploring educational trends and challenges in the MENA region amidst a global crisis: An empirical analysis of the pandemic’s impact on SDG4

The paper presents a cross-country analysis of seven countries in the MENA region and explores the effects of COVID-19 on educational policymaking. The paper uses a quasi-thematic literature review to highlight the emerging themes related to the quality of education during the pandemic. The paper investigates the educational trends in seven MENA region countries and provides descriptive analysis to understand if there were changes from 2016 to 2020. In order to investigate these trends, the study uses the conceptualization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4) “Quality of education.” The analysis is based on the data from the World Bank Development indicators. The paper’s evidence identifies a difference in the level of government expenditure on education within the MENA region. Pre and during COVID-19 provides crucial insights such as all countries increased their government expenditure on education except Egypt and Bahrain. The paper further addresses the contributing factors to the educational gaps in the region, such as digital exclusion, inequality (income and gender), and the government’s budget constraints during the pandemic. This study presents recommendations to bridge these identified gaps in the post-pandemic era.

The nonlinear dynamic effect of government expenditure on income inequality: The case of macroprudential policy switching

A panel data analysis of nonlinear government expenditure and income inequality dynamics in a macroprudential policy regime was conducted on a panel of 15 emerging countries from 1985–2019, where there had been a non-prudential regime from 1985–1999 and a prudential regime from 2000–2019. The paper explored the validity of the nonlinearity between government expenditure and income inequality in the macroprudential policy regime as well as the threshold level at which excessive spending reduces income inequality using the Bayesian spatial lag panel smooth transition regression (BSPSTR) and fix effect models. The BSPSTR model was adopted due to its ability to address the problems of heterogeneity, endogeneity, and cross-section correlation in a nonlinear framework. Moreover, as the transition variable often varies across time and space, the effect of the independent variables can also be time- and space-varying. The results reveal evidence of a nonlinear effect between government spending and income inequality, where the minimum level of government spending is found to be 29.89 percent of GDP, above which expenditure reduces inequality in emerging countries. The findings confirmed an inverted U-shaped relationship. The focal policy recommendation is that fiscal policy decisions that will reinforce the need for more emphasis on education and public expenditure on education and health, as important tools for improving income inequality, are crucial for these economies. Caution is needed when introducing macroprudential policies, especially at a low level of government expenditure.

GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES ON HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION – LEVEL, CHANGES, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIO- -ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Aim: The aim of this article is to examine changes in government expenditures on household consumption in European countries and the relationship of these expenditures with socio-economic indicators. Methods: The study is based on data analysis from 36 European countries, using the Eurostat database and various rankings such as the Happiness Index, Human Development Index, Sustainable Development Goals, and Social Progress Index. The analysis focused on the trends in government expenditures on household consumption and aimed to explore the association between these expenditures and socio-economic indicators. Results: Significant changes in the share of government expenditures on household consumption in the GDP were observed among the studied countries during the period from 2011 to 2022. Some countries increased their expenditures, while others decreased them. Cluster analysis revealed four groups of countries based on the share of government expenditures on household consumption in GDP. Conclusions: There was no direct correlation between the level of government expenditures on household consumption and socio-economic indicators among the studied countries. Instead, variations in socio-economic development were observed among different groups of countries, regardless of the level of government expenditures on household consumption.

PENGARUH PERTUMBUHAN EKONOMI, UPAH MINIMUM KABUPATEN/KOTA, DAN PENGELUARAN PEMERINTAH TERHADAP PENYERAPAN TENAGA KERJA DI PROVINSI BALI

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of economic growth, district/city minimum wages, and government spending on labor absorption in the province of Bali. The data analysis technique used is multiple linear regression analysis. Based on the analysis results indicate that the level of economic growth has a negative (not significant) effect on the level of employment in the Regency/City in the Province of Bali. The district/city minimum wage level has a positive (significant) effect on the district/city employment rate in Bali Province. The level of government expenditure has a positive (significant) effect on the level of absorption of Regency/City workers in the Province of Bali. Based on the research results, it can be suggested that the government can increase visits for both foreign and domestic tourists, thereby increasing the value of GRDP and the rate of economic growth. The government is also expected to provide employment programs so that the programs implemented can be right on target, with the right quality and on time as well as increasing labor productivity through education and labor training so as to create job opportunities for quality workers.

Are economic growth and environmental pollution a dilemma?

For the first time, this study introduces-proposes using the Armey curve hypothesis (ACH) for testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis (EKCH) in the relevant literature. The rationale for this new proposed methodology is that both hypotheses are expected to have similar inverted U-shaped curves. Hence, we combine the aforementioned hypotheses to obtain a single composite model. This single model may allow us to calculate a maximum (optimum) level of government expenditures that will increase or decrease CO2 emissions for USMCA (the USA-Mexico-Canada Agreement) countries. To this end, our study employs an augmented mean group (AMG) estimator. The results demonstrate that the EKCH is verified by way of the AC model only for Mexico. Additionally, with the advantage of this approach, we calculated the optimal government spending level, which will increase both per capita real GDP (RGDPPC) and CO2 emissions in this country by around 26.4% of RGDPPC. This level of spending will be a kind of threshold point for the Mexican government's policymakers. Hence, they will know that if they continue to spend more than this level, both the RGDPPC and CO2 emissions will decrease, implying either a lower RGDPPC or a cleaner environment. The primary purpose of the proposed methodology in this study is to reveal the possible effects of the government's economic growth-oriented increased public expenditures on the environment in a single composite model. In other words, the relationship between economic growth and the environment is approached from the perspective of public spending, and it is reminded that governments should have harmonious and sustainable public spending policies for both economic growth and a cleaner environment.

National health systems strengthening as the primary strategy to achieve Universal Health Coverage in African countries

Africa is the second largest continent and has its socioeconomic and health peculiarities. Countries are faced with varying challenges towards its Universal Health Coverage (UHC) achievement and hence the region requires health system reforms to drive equitable and balanced medical services to its populace. The main objectives of the paper were to explore the complexities of the African health systems, subsequently highlighting major challenges to UHC and to provide a framework for strategic approaches to health system strengthening to ensure realization of UHC. Information presented in this paper was collected from published literature and reports on Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Egypt and South Africa, amidst other African countries. The published literature points to the presence of a somewhat slow progress towards UHC or at least an existent knowledge of it. However, common challenges faced can be grouped into 1) Financial constraints which include low levels of government expenditure on health and increased out-of-pocket percentages, (2) Lack of coverage of key services which includes majorly immunization rates and existence of health insurance for citizens, (3) Input constraints ranging from drug availability to skilled healthcare workforce, information and research and (4) Lack of political support and commitment towards universal health coverage. To overcome the above-stated constraints, two broad groups of interventions were identified; General interventions largely focusing on reprioritization of health budget, quality and improved services, equipped facilities and efficient social protection systems; and Specific interventions which emphasizes the importance of eliminating shortage of health workers, ensuring availability of essential medicines/ products, embracing decentralization at supply chain management, validating data/ information system and advocacy for impactful health education/promotion. Although there will be strength and weakness for whatever reforms adopted, implementation is totally contextual and contingent upon countries' specific health system bottlenecks.
 Sources of Funding
 None
 Conflicts of Interest
 The authors declare no conflict of interest
 Acknowledgement
 We would like to thank Dr. AugustinoTing Mayai for assistance and mentorship

Uncovering the roots of Nepalese inflation: An empirical investigation

Nepal's reliance on imports and its vulnerable position to external economic shocks, understanding the factors that drive inflation is especially important in order to ensure stability and competitiveness in the country's economy. This research aims to explore the factors that influence inflation in Nepal over the period from 2000 to 2021. To do so, we analyzed the relationship between the current account, government expenditure, money supply, and inflation using empirical methods and statistical techniques such as the OLS method and ADF test for stationarity, as well as static forecasting and a VAR model. We hypothesized that a deficit in the current account, high levels of government expenditure, and an increase in the money supply may contribute to higher domestic inflation. Our analysis revealed that there was high multicollinearity and non-stationary time series data, but the regression model had satisfactory predictive power. Additionally, we found that an exogenous shock to inflation had an immediate effect on government expenditure, current account, and money supply, and there was a unidirectional causality between inflation and money supply. These findings can help policymakers make informed economic decisions to minimize negative impacts on Nepal's economy.

The Relationship between Government Health Expenditure and Economic Growth: Evidence from Western Balkan Countries

This paper aims to investigate the effect of government expenditure on health and other relevant factors like health insurance, longevity, average age and death rate on economic growth in Western Balkan countries. Countries with higher levels of government expenditure on health tend to have higher levels of economic growth. Investment in healthcare may result in a greater supply of health incentives which may help human capital and enhance productivity and the economy’s performance. This paper uses annual data from 2000-2020 for the following Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia. This region represents a diverse set of countries at different stages of development with varying government expenditures on health. This provides an opportunity to study the impact of health on economic growth in an environment with a lot of "real-world" variation. The data is collected from the World Bank, National Statistical Offices and Eurostat. The dependent variable is economic growth, measured as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita growth. The independent variables are government expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP, health insurance, longevity, the average age of the population, health expenditure per capita and the death rate. In order to measure the impact of individual factors, the study uses econometric models with fixed effects and random effects. The regression analysis results show that government expenditure on health has a positive and significant impact on economic growth in Western Balkans countries.

Impact of Credit Facilities to Private Sector Businesses on Nigeria’s Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP), 1980 – 2021

The research looked at how provision of credit facilities to private sector businesses did (or didn’t) affect the rate of economic expansion in Nigeria between the years 1980 and 2021. We used log-linear multiple regression to investigate both the short-term and the long-term dynamics of the connection between credit facilities to private businesses and overall economic expansion. The empirical findings demonstrated that provision of financial resources to private sector businesses had a considerable and favourable impact on economic expansion in Nigeria between the years 1980 and 2021. The findings also demonstrated that Nigeria's economic climate is adversely affected by the country's exchange rate and interest rate. In the short run, government spending in Nigeria has a big and beneficial impact on real gross domestic product (RGDP), but in the longer run, it has a detrimental impact on the economy. As a result, the report suggests that the government should make it a priority to ensure that private businesses have simple access to credit facilities. It is imperative that the public sector and the private sector work together to develop a fruitful partnership, with the public sector acting as a facilitator and the private sector committing to adhering to the rules and providing goods and services that are of high quality at prices that are competitive. In addition, the study suggested that Nigeria government should focus its policymaking efforts on achieving an optimal exchange rate, interest rate, and level of government expenditure to the private sector. This is so that these factors will have a stronger effect on the level of productivity in the private sector, thereby fostering faster economic growth.

Corruption in the public schools of Europe: A cross-national multilevel analysis of education system characteristics

Researchers have long theorized that characteristics of education systems impact both perceived and experienced corruption in public schools. However, due to insufficient cross-national survey data with measures on corruption in education and unassembled yet publicly available institutional data, there are few empirical tests of this theory. This article provides the rare direct test of the relationship between corruption in European public schools and three education system factors: government expenditure on education, education staff compensation, and teacher workload (pupil–teacher ratio). With a newly constructed harmonized data set for European countries, and controlling for national economic factors and individual characteristics, results of multilevel analyses suggest partial support for the theory that specific institutional characteristics of education systems impact public school corruption. The theorized institutional factors have different effects that depend on whether we examine bribe-giving experience or corruption perception. Results show that bribe-giving experience in public schools of Europe is weakly yet significantly related to education staff compensation. For corruption perception, low levels of government expenditure on education and a lopsided pupil–teacher ratio (too few teachers per student) increase the probability that people view corruption as prevalent.

The Optimal Magnitude of Government Spending: Evidence from Cambodia

Scholars and policymakers have vigorously debated what the impact of government spending on economic growth is. Some current research and theoretical models suggest that the reaction of economic growth to the extension of government spending can be either positive or negative. This article intends to investigate the inverted-U shaped relationship between output growth and government spending (i.e., government fixed capital formation [GFCF] and government final consumption expenditure [GFCE]). Ordinary least squares (OLS) is employed as an approach to annual data for Cambodia obtained from 1971 to 2015. The result reveals that GFCF and GFCE have an inverted-U shaped relation with economic growth and that 5.40% and 7.23% are the optimal values of GFCF and GFCE, respectively. The labour growth rate and export growth rate contribute positively to the growth rate of output. This study indicates that the increasing level of government expenditure reduces the efficacy of government spending, and also helps Cambodia’s policymakers to control fiscal policy more efficiently. JEL Classification: C80, E62, H50, O40

Political Turnover and Innovation: Evidence from China.

This paper explores cycles in innovative outcomes corresponding with the timing of political turnover. Using data on local government officials and firm level innovation activities in China, firm innovation is found to be negatively associated with a turnover of local political leaders. We examine several potential explanations and find evidence supporting the premise that political turnover reduces firms’ incentives to innovate until the uncertainty is resolved. This paper also indicates that local political turnover significantly inhibits firms’ research and development investment, government subsidies, and expansion decisions, leading to less innovative outcomes. Moreover, reductions in innovation are greater in cities with higher levels of government expenditure or intellectual property rights trials, or in smaller firms or non-state-owned enterprises during the rotation of local government leaders.

Changes in public satisfaction with GP services in Britain between 1998 and 2019: a repeated cross-sectional analysis of attitudinal data

BackgroundBetween 1998 and 2019, the structure and process of general practitioner services in Britain underwent a series of reforms and experienced distinct funding environments. This paper examines changes in satisfaction with GP services over time against this backdrop.MethodsData were extracted from the British Social Attitudes Survey for the period 1998–2019. Logistic regression analyses investigated changes in overall satisfaction and among specific population sub-groups differentiated by socio-demographic characteristics whilst taking account of time trend and interaction effects between sub-group membership and time trend.ResultsSustained and significant changes in satisfaction coincided closely with changes to the funding environment. Distinct patterns were evident among sub-groups. Satisfaction appeared to fall more sharply during austerity for low income groups, older people and people who had fewer formal qualifications/years in education.ConclusionWhile a series of policy initiatives were adopted over the period examined, public satisfaction seemed to move in a manner consistent with levels of government expenditure rather than exhibiting distinct breaks that coincided with policy initiatives. As services recover from the pandemic it will be necessary to invest in a significant and sustained way to rebuild public satisfaction.

THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN INDIA: VECM ESTIMATION

The relationship between public expenditure and economic growth is obvious, but the direction of the causality is not clear. This paper analyses the relative impact of the different components of public expenditure on economic growth. Specifically, this paper examines whether the level of government expenditure is managed to accelerate economic growth or whether the government expenditure is used excessively which may hurt the domestic economy because of increased taxes and/or high government borrowing. The vector error correction method is applied to the annual time series data for India from 1983 to 2020 for testing the long and short-run causality. The pair-wise Granger causality test indicates one-way causality moving from gross domestic product to total government expenditure and from gross domestic product to government revenue showing that the growth of the economy leads to an increase in both government revenue and expenditure. The estimated error correction coefficient is significantly negative indicating that the speed of adjustment between the shortrun dynamics and the long-run equilibrium is about 0.03%. The results show a stable long-run relationship between public expenditure and economic growth.

Quantifying the optimal long-run level of government expenditures in Turkey

Purpose: This paper gauges the nexus between government expenditures and the output level in Turkey. Our primary research objective is to evaluate the extent to which government expenditures give rise to an increase in GDP taking the Armey curve theory as a basis for the analysis. Succinctly speaking, this theory suggests that the expansionary impact of government expenditure on income level has diminishing nature and beyond a certain threshold public spending impairs rather than accelerates economic activities for several reasons including crowding out, rent-seeking, tax hikes, and public debt surges. Methodology: In order to test the validity of this theory, we use a dataset with annual frequency covering the 1968-2019 period, which is the longest dataset used to carry out this analysis in the literature for Turkey. We set up an ARDL model to estimate the long-run coefficients required for quantifying the optimal level of government spending in Turkey. Results: According to our findings, the estimated function exhibits a concave down functional form, which implies a diminishing marginal effect of government spending on GDP, suggesting thereby that the Armey curve theory is valid for Turkey. In addition, even though government expenditure has topped out in recent years, it is still below the GDP maximising optimal level, which indicates that there is sufficient room for expansionary fiscal policies, with the caveat of a potential negative marginal impact on GDP once the optimal threshold is exceeded. Conclusion: The long-run coefficients from the ARDL estimation reveal that despite a consistent upward trend, government expenditures are still below their optimal level, which implies that there is fiscal space available to the government as far as output maximisation is concerned. However, government expenditures have been on a downward trend recently, which is contrary to output maximisation.

Revisiting the EKC hypothesis by assessing the complementarities between fiscal, monetary, and environmental development policies in China.

Recently, China has declared its national objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2060. Hence, mitigating carbon dioxide emissions has become an important agenda of the Chinese government. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of pursuing expansionary fiscal and monetary policies on China's carbon dioxide emission figures by using annualfrequency data from 1980 to 2018. Accordingly, this study considers the levels of government expenditure and broad money supply as fiscal and monetary policy instruments, respectively. Besides accounting for structural break concerns in the data, the findingsfrom the empirical analysis reveal that there are long-run associations between carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, and fiscal and monetary expansion in China. Moreover, the results also show that in both the short- and long-run expansionary fiscal policy triggerhigher carbon dioxide emissions while expansionary monetary policy inhibits the carbon dioxide emission figures of China. Furthermore, theresults invalidate the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis since the relationship betweenChina's economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions is evidenced to portray an N-shape. In line with these findings, it is recommended that China achieve environmentally sustainable economic growth by aligning the national fiscal and monetary policies with the 2060 carbon-neutrality objective.

National health systems strengthening as the primary strategy to achieve Universal Health Coverage in African countries

Africa is the second largest continent and has its socioeconomic and health peculiarities. Countries are faced with varying challenges towards its Universal Health Coverage (UHC) achievement and hence the region requires health system reforms to drive equitable and balanced medical services to its populace. The main objectives of the paper were to explore the complexities of the African health systems, subsequently highlighting major challenges to UHC and to provide a framework for strategic approaches to health system strengthening to ensure realization of UHC. Information presented in this paper was collected from published literature and reports on Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Egypt and South Africa, amidst other African countries. The published literature points to the presence of a somewhat slow progress towards UHC or at least an existent knowledge of it. However, common challenges faced can be grouped into 1) Financial constraints which include low levels of government expenditure on health and increased out-of-pocket percentages, (2) Lack of coverage of key services which includes majorly immunization rates and existence of health insurance for citizens, (3) Input constraints ranging from drug availability to skilled healthcare workforce, information and research and (4) Lack of political support and commitment towards universal health coverage. To overcome the above-stated constraints, two broad groups of interventions were identified; General interventions largely focusing on reprioritization of health budget, quality and improved services, equipped facilities and efficient social protection systems; and Specific interventions which emphasizes the importance of eliminating shortage of health workers, ensuring availability of essential medicines/ products, embracing decentralization at supply chain management, validating data/ information system and advocacy for impactful health education/promotion. Although there will be strength and weakness for whatever reforms adopted, implementation is totally contextual and contingent upon countries' specific health system bottlenecks. Sources of Funding None Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest Acknowledgement We would like to thank Dr. AugustinoTing Mayai for assistance and mentorship

Macroeconomic stability under balanced‐budget rules and no‐income‐effect preferences

AbstractIt has been shown that under an additively separable preference formulation between consumption and hours worked, indeterminacy and sunspots may arise in a standard one‐sector or two‐sector real business cycle model when the labor tax rate is endogenously determined by a balanced‐budget rule with a pre‐specified constant level of government expenditures. Our analysis finds that this indeterminacy result will completely disappear within either setting if the period utility function is postulated to exhibit no income effect on the householdʼs demand for leisure. In particular, the modelʼs low‐tax steady state displays saddle‐path stability and equilibrium uniqueness; whereas the high‐tax steady state is either a source or a saddle point.