A Pitfall with Estimated DSGE-Based Government Spending Multipliers

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
Year: 2013
Volume: 5
Issue: 4
Pages: 141-78

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper examines issues related to the estimation of the government spending multiplier (GSM) in a DSGE context. We stress a source of bias in the GSM arising from the combination of endogenous government expenditures and Edgeworth complementarity between private consumption and government expenditures. Due to cross-equation restrictions, omitting the endogenous component of government policy at the estimation stage would lead an econometrician to underestimate the degree of Edgeworth complementarity and, consequently, the long-run GSM. An estimated version of our model with US postwar data shows that this bias matters quantitatively. The results are robust to a number of perturbations.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejmac:v:5:y:2013:i:4:p:141-78
Journal Field
Macro
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25