Series: Working Papers. 1628.
Author: Susana Párraga Rodríguez.
Published in:
Journal of Macroeconomics, Volume 56, June 2018, Pages 340-360
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Abstract
This paper estimates the dynamic aggregate effect of exogenous shocks to two key components of public expenditure in the United States: government income transfers and government spending. The identification strategy positions the structural shocks to public expenditures in an SVAR framework with exogenous measures of public expenditure changes. Transfers shocks are based on a new narrative variable of legislated increases in U.S. social security benefits. I demonstrate that shocks to different types of public expenditure do not have the same macroeconomic impact. The estimated government spending multiplier is between 0 and 1, while increases in transfers generate a multiplier effect above 1.