This paper presents a test of Wagner's Law for the OECD countries using data from 1960 to 1995. Unlike other analyses of Wagner's Law, explicit allowance is made in the paper for the effect of changes in the age distribution of the population on public spending. The results show that the...

We use a model of intertemporal tax smoothing to examine long run data on fiscal policy in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. We find that the intertemporal model provides a good description of tax policy for the United States but is rejected for Australia and for the UK.

India has a long history of running fiscal deficits. Two broad considerations motivate a government to run a deficit: tax smoothing and tax tilting. This paper tests a version of Barro's tax smoothing model, using Indian data for the period 1951-52 to 1966-97. The empirical results indicate that...

This paper presents new evidence on the ability of Peacock and Wiseman's displacement hypothesis to explain temporal increases in the ratio of government expenditure to GDP in the United Kingdom. Using univariate modelling techniques that are robust to structural changes in the underlying data...

This paper examines data on Australian fiscal policy going back to federation to answer two question. First, has the conduct of Australian fiscal policy been consistent with the government's intertemporal budget constraint? Second, have there been major structural changes in the conduct of...

This paper tests a version of Barro's tax-smoothing model, which assumes intertemporal optimization by a government seeking to minimize the distortionary costs of taxation, using Pakistan and Sri Lankan data for the periods 1956-95 and 1964-97, respectively. The empirical results indicate that...

India has a long history of running fiscal deficits. This paper asks whether the magnitude of these deficits has involved a violation of India's intertemporal budget constraint. Times series evidence on Central government tax revenues and expenditures are examined for cointegration using...