Abstract

This study examines the impact of government expenditure on economic growth in Vanuatu for the period 1981 to 2016. We first examined the effects of government expenditure on economic growth when government expenditure is financed by tax revenues, non-tax revenues, and budget deficit/surplus. Secondly, we examined the effects of government expenditure compositions on economic growth. Thirdly, we tested for weak exogeneity of fiscal factors on investment. We observed that fiscal factors and investment have causal effects on economic growth in Vanuatu. More specifically, government expenditure negatively influences long-run economic growth when financed by tax revenues, but positively influences long-run economic growth when financed by other sources such as non-tax revenues and budget surplus/deficit. We further noted that amongst expenditure compositions, expenditure on education, health, wages & salaries, agriculture, and interest payments individually has larger effects on the long-run economic growth than the remaining expenditure composition as a whole.

摘要

本研究考察了 1981 年至 2016 年期间政府支出对瓦努阿图经济增长的影响。我们首先研究了当政府支出由税收、非税收入和预算赤字/盈余提供资金时政府支出对经济增长的影响. 其次，我们考察了政府支出构成对经济增长的影响。第三，我们检验了财政因素对投资的弱外生性。我们观察到财政因素和投资对瓦努阿图的经济增长具有因果影响。更具体地说，当由税收收入资助时，政府支出对长期经济增长产生负面影响，但当由非税收收入和预算盈余/赤字等其他来源资助时，政府支出对长期经济增长产生积极影响。