This book critically examines the optimum range and duration of government interventions in the economic activities of a modern state based on theoretical and empirical frameworks, and assesses their role and extent in various economies. With a special focus on emerging economies across the globe, it discusses themes such as income growth; social sector development; good governance and economic progress; threshold limits; optimum budget policy and economic growth; sustainable distributional managements in public projects; food for work programs; agricultural infrastructure development; technological progress and economic growth; and distributional equities. The policy suggestions provided here offer helpful blueprints for developmental projects. Rich in data and figures, the book addresses sector-specific case studies like healthcare; irrigation and agriculture; infrastructure; taxation and economic growth; and public sector enterprises. It will be an excellent read for scholars and researchers of economics, Indian economics, macroeconomics, political economy, public policy, political science and management, development studies, development economy and governance. It will also be useful to policymakers, administrative officials, and government and corporate bodies.

This book critically examines the optimum range and duration of government interventions in the economic activities of a modern state based on theoretical and empirical frameworks, and assesses their role and extent in various economies. With a special focus on emerging economies across the globe, it discusses themes such as income growth; social sector development; good governance and economic progress; threshold limits; optimum budget policy and economic growth; sustainable distributional managements in public projects; food for work programs; agricultural infrastructure development; technological progress and economic growth; and distributional equities. The policy suggestions provided here offer helpful blueprints for developmental projects. Rich in data and figures, the book addresses sector-specific case studies like healthcare; irrigation and agriculture; infrastructure; taxation and economic growth; and public sector enterprises. It will be an excellent read for scholars and researchers of economics, Indian economics, macroeconomics, political economy, public policy, political science and management, development studies, development economy and governance. It will also be useful to policymakers, administrative officials, and government and corporate bodies.

The size of gov¿t. has increased significantly since the financial crisis of 2008 as a result of the government¿s unplanned intervention in financial markets and subsequent stimulus legislation. Contents of this report: (1) How Does the Gov¿t. Affect the Economy?; (2) How Large is the Gov¿t.?; (3) Effect of the Gov¿t. on Economic Efficiency: What is a Market Failure?; Public Goods; Common Resources; Monopoly Power; Externalities; Asymmetric Information; Failure to Optimize; How Do Taxes Affect Economic Efficiency?; Balancing Economic Efficiency With Other Goals; (4) Effect of the Gov¿t. on Economic Growth: Effect of Spending, Transfers, Taxes, and Regulation. Charts and tables.

This paper examines the empirical evidence on the contribution that government and, in particular, capital expenditure make to the growth performance of a sample of developing countries. Using the Denison growth accounting approach, this study finds that social expenditures may have a significant impact on growth in the short run, but infrastructure expenditures may have little influence. While current expenditures for directly productive purposes may exert a positive influence, capital expenditure in these sectors appears to exert a negative influence. Experiments with other explanatory variables confirm the importance of the growth of exports to the overall growth rate.

The economic crisis of 2008–2009 signaled the end of the Post-Washington Consensus on restricting the role of the state in economic and development policy. Since then, state ownership and state intervention have increased worldwide. This volume offers a comparative analysis of the evolution of direct state intervention in the economy through state-owned companies in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Singapore, and Slovenia. Each case study includes substantial explanations of historical, cultural, and institutional contexts. All the contributors point to the complex nature of the current revival in state economic interventions. The few models that are successful cannot hide the potential problems of excessive state intervention, linked to high levels of moral hazard. State-owned enterprises are primary tools of market and price manipulation for political purposes. They can be used outright for rent seeking. Yet state-owned enterprises can also play important roles in prestigious national initiatives, like major public works or high-profile social and sports events. The authors conclude that after the uniform application of democratic market economic principles, the 2000s witnessed a path-dependent departure from standard economic and political operating procedures in developed countries.

This paper addresses the problems of defining and measuring government subsidies, examines why and how government subsidies are used as a fiscal policy tool, assesses their economic effects, appraises international empirical evidence on government subsidies, and offers options for their reform. Recent international trends in government subsidy expenditure are analyzed for the 16-year period from 1975 to 1990, using general government subsidy data for 60 countries from the System of National Accounts (SNA) and central government expenditure on subsidies and other current transfers for 68 countries from Government Finance Statistics (GFS). The paper reviews major policy options for subsidy reform, focusing on ways to improve the cost-effectiveness of subsidy programs.