H00 - Public Economics: GeneralReturn

We examine the relationship between the government size and economic growth by using threshold regression model and quarterly data over the period 1998:1-2015:1 for Turkey. Our results provide a strong evidence for the existence of a non-linear relationship. The estimated threshold levels, as a percentage of GDP, are 16.5 for the government total expenditures, 12.6 for consumption expenditures and 3.9 for investment expenditures. We find that an increase in the government size leads to a significant rise (decline) in economic growth rate when the government size is below (above) the threshold level, confirming the predictions of Armey curve. Our findings have a clear policy implication: since the realized government consumption and total expenditures are well above the estimated threshold levels, a reduction in the government size would boost the growth rate.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of regulatory policy on the supply of outpatient services and on their geographical distribution in the Czech Republic. The analysis of regulatory policy is based on the review of literature. Trends and regional distribution were analysed quantitatively on the data for the period of 1990 to 2002. Regulation introduced in 1997 led to a financial stability of the health sector, but it did not have a great impact on the level and distribution of outpatient services. Regulatory policy can be seen as a failure if one assumes that improved quality, effectiveness, and efficiency are the objectives of the health system. The supply of outpatient services is unevenly distributed. For example, one-quarter of outpatient services in psychiatry is concentrated in the capital.