The Nexus between Economic Growth and Public Spending in Eastern European Countries

This study analyses the relationship between governmental expenditure and economic growth rate for 8 Eastern-European countries with data for 1995–2014 using the ARDL model. The main goal of the present study is to test the presence of a non-linear - Armey Curve type - relationship between the government size and economic growth and also to find an optimal level of public spending which maximizes economic growth. Our results reveal the occurrence of a significant cointegration of public spending and economic growth for all considered countries and show that the current share of public spending within the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeds the optimal level calculated for the three countries for which the Armey-type phenomenon occurs. Also, the results suggest that the optimal percentage of governmental spending varies between 37 % and 41 % and the present level is higher than the optimal level for Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. The outstripping of the optimal level may conclude to the idea that the weight of public sector should be slightly decreased in these countries since the public sector is not able to efficiently cope with its resources. Based on the study results, the weight of public expenditure should be reduced while the efficiency of public spending programs should be increased.