Optimal public deficit and tax-smoothing in the Spanish economy, 1850-2022

  1. Congregado, Emilio 1
  2. Esteve, Vicente 2
  3. Prats, María A. 3
  1. 1 Universidad de Huelva
    info

    Universidad de Huelva

    Huelva, España

    ROR https://ror.org/03a1kt624

  2. 2 Universidad de Alcal·
  3. 3 Universidad de Murcia
    info

    Universidad de Murcia

    Murcia, España

    ROR https://ror.org/03p3aeb86

Revista:
Documentos de Trabajo (IAES, Instituto Universitario de Análisis Económico y Social)

ISSN: 1139-6148

Ano de publicación: 2024

Número: 1

Páxinas: 1-39

Tipo: Documento de traballo

Outras publicacións en: Documentos de Trabajo (IAES, Instituto Universitario de Análisis Económico y Social)

Resumo

In this paper, we provide a formal test of Barroís tax-smoothing model, using Spanish data covering the period 1850ñ2022. First, we found that the tax-tilting component has been very important for the Spanish government and is a symptom of the existence of a public deÖcit bias that has existed in Spanish public Önances over the sample period. Second, our empirical Öndings do also support the existence of tax-smoothing in Spanish Öscal policy throughout the sample period. Consequently, there is some evidence that the Spanish economy has engaged in tax-smoothing behavior over the period analyzed, as the Spanish governments responded to expected future changes in government spending by running budget imbalances, rather than altering contemporaneous government revenues