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Can Statistical Capacity Building Help Reduce Procyclical Fiscal Policy?
Author(s) -
Tapsoba Sampawende J.A.,
Noumon Codjo Neree,
York Robert C.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.3273
Subject(s) - index (typography) , economics , government spending , government (linguistics) , explanatory power , fiscal capacity , fiscal policy , panel data , estimation , public economics , statistical evidence , macroeconomics , quality (philosophy) , econometrics , political science , linguistics , philosophy , null hypothesis , management , epistemology , world wide web , computer science , welfare , law , market economy
Few papers have attempted to assess the role of ‘capacity’, especially in the area of macroeconomic statistics. Consequently, we make an attempt to advance this literature through the construction of a ‘statistical capacity building index’ and then test its explanatory power on the cyclicality of government spending. Using panel data from 62 developing countries, we find evidence that improvements in this index are associated with less procyclicality of government spending over the period 1990–2012, with the significance of this relationship dependent upon the quality of administrative and technical capacity of budgetary institutions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.