DP9672 Limiting Fiscal Procyclicality: Evidence from Resource-Rich Countries
Author(s): | Leonor Coutinho, Dimitrios Georgiou, Maria Heracleous, Alexander Michaelides, Stella Tsani |
Publication Date: | October 2013 |
Keyword(s): | commodity prices, fiscal procyclicality, fiscal rules, natural resources, sovereign wealth funds |
JEL(s): | E62, H30 |
Programme Areas: | International Macroeconomics |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=9672 |
We provide evidence that fiscal policy in resource-rich countries is strongly procyclical. The empirical analysis reveals that on average real government consumption in these countries tends to significantly rise (fall) in good (bad) times. To control for endogeneity we use an instrumental variable for GDP growth that arises naturally, namely the growth in commodity prices of the main natural resource export. We also find that fiscal policy procyclicality is lower in more democratic regimes, and that operating a sovereign wealth fund is more successful in limiting fiscal policy procyclicality than introducing fiscal rules.