nep-acc New Economics Papers
on Accounting
Issue of 2005‒04‒30
six papers chosen by
Bernardo Batiz-Lazo
London South Bank University

  1. A Case for Taxing Education By Tomer Blumkin; Efraim Sadka
  2. The Sustainability of Fiscal Policy in the United States By Henning Bohn
  3. What can the Fiscal Impact of Aid tell us about Aid Effectiveness? By ESAU (Unassigned)
  4. The Fiscal Effects of Aid in Zambia By Sonja Fagernäs; John Roberts
  5. The Fiscal Effects of Aid in Malawi By Sonja Fagernäs; Cedrik Schurich
  6. The Fiscal Effects of Aid in Uganda By Sonja Fagernäs; John Roberts

  1. By: Tomer Blumkin; Efraim Sadka
    Abstract: We illustrate a novel informational feature of education, which the government may utilize. Discretionary decisions of individuals to acquire education may serve as an additional signal (to earned labor income) on the underlying unobserved innate earning ability, thereby mitigating the informational constraint faced by the government. We establish a case for taxing education, as a supplement to the labor income tax.
    Keywords: optimal taxation, re-distribution, education, inequality
    JEL: D60 H20
    Date: 2005
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1440&r=acc
  2. By: Henning Bohn
    Abstract: The paper examines the sustainability of U.S. fiscal policy, finding substantial evidence in favor. I summarize the U.S. fiscal record from 1792-2003, critically review sustainability conditions and their testable implications, and apply them to U.S. data. I particularly emphasize the ramifications of economic growth. A “growth dividend” has historically covered the entire interest bill on the U.S. debt. Unit root tests on real series, unscaled by GDP, are distorted by the series’ severe heteroskedasticity. The most credible evidence in favor of sustainability is the robust positive response of primary surpluses to fluctuations in the debt-GDP ratio.
    Keywords: public debt, sustainability, primary surplus, unit root
    JEL: E60 H00 H60
    Date: 2005
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1446&r=acc
  3. By: ESAU (Unassigned)
    Keywords: Fiscal, aid, aid effectiveness, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, budget, economic growth
    Date: 2005–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:odi:bpaper:4&r=acc
  4. By: Sonja Fagernäs; John Roberts
    Abstract: Working Paper 10 forms part of a set of four ESAU papers on the fiscal effects of aid in African countries. The others are on Malawi (Working Paper 7), on Uganda (Working Paper 9) and a literature Survey and Synthesis (Working Paper 11). The first, historical and analytical background, part of the paper charts the course of Zambia’s economic decline and impoverishment from the high point reached in the early 1970s to the 1990s, when a tentative recovery began in the wake of radical but incomplete reforms. The fall in mining revenues caused a fall in real public expenditure only partly offset by substantial aid inflows, and public services declined. The second part, devoted to the analysis of time-series data from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, shows that the main effect of aid has been to augment the capital budget, though it has also temporarily raised recurrent expenditure. Large aid inflows have not produced satisfactory development results because they have been overwhelmed by adverse economic circumstances and uncertain economic and public expenditure management.
    Keywords: Fiscal, aid, aid effectiveness, Zambia, budget, economic growth
    Date: 2004–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:odi:wpaper:10&r=acc
  5. By: Sonja Fagernäs; Cedrik Schurich
    Abstract: Working Paper 7 is the first of three ESAU monographs on the fiscal effects of aid - the two others covering Uganda (Working Paper 9) and Zambia (Working Paper 10). Their methodology and general conclusions are summarised in a separate Survey and Synthesis paper (Working Paper 11). The purpose of this research was to find out how aid has been absorbed through recipients’ fiscal processes with a view to better understanding how aid is effective in promoting growth. Each country paper combines historical and institutional analysis with the econometric analysis of time series data. In Malawi, growth has been slow and fitful, and there has been a record of uneven macroeconomic management, poor fiscal control and debt problems, often leaving public services underfunded. The government has practised fiscal dichotomy – allocating aid to the development budget, while financing its recurrent budget from revenue and domestic borrowing. The econometric evidence confirms that aid has been used to finance the development budget. It also shows that aid has, if anything, been a stabilising influence, being associated with higher domestic revenues and lower borrowing.
    Keywords: Fiscal, aid, aid effectiveness, Malawi, absorption, economic growth
    Date: 2004–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:odi:wpaper:7&r=acc
  6. By: Sonja Fagernäs; John Roberts
    Abstract: Working Paper 9 forms part of a set of four ESAU papers on the fiscal effects of aid in African countries. The others are on Malawi (Working Paper 7), on Zambia (Working Paper 10) and a literature Survey and Synthesis (Working Paper 11). The first, historical and analytical background, part of the paper contrasts the pre-1986 period of misrule, instability, conflict, the exodus of entrepreneurs and professionals, dwindling aid and economic decline, with the subsequent period when growth resumed, poverty fell, economic stability was restored, aid was substantial, and the government implemented budget management and pro-poor expenditure reforms. The second, econometric, part shows that the main effect of aid between the 1970s and 1990s was to increase development budget expenditure, with lesser positive impacts on recurrent budget expenditure and domestic revenue. The effectiveness of aid has therefore turned on the (rising) quality of development budget expenditure and on the (growing) credibility of accompanying economic policies.
    Keywords: Fiscal, aid, aid effectiveness, Uganda, budget, economic growth
    Date: 2004–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:odi:wpaper:9&r=acc

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