DP4384 The Stabilizing Role of Government Size

Author(s): Javier Andrés , Rafael Doménech , Antonio Fatás

Publication Date: May 2004

Keyword(s): government size , output volatility , automatic stabilizers

JEL(s): E32 , E52 , E63

Programme Areas: International Macroeconomics

Link to this Page: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP4384.asp

This Paper presents an analysis of how alternative models of the business cycle can replicate the stylized fact that large governments are associated with less volatile economies. Our analysis shows that adding nominal rigidities and costs of capital adjustment to an otherwise standard RBC model can generate a negative correlation between government size and the volatility of output. In the model, however, we find that the stabilizing effect is only due to a composition effect and it is not present when we look at the volatility of private output. Given that empirically we also observe a negative correlation between government size and the volatility of consumption, we modify the model by introducing rule-of-thumb consumers. In this modified version of our initial model we observe that consumption volatility is also reduced when government size increases.