Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence

An increased integration of the world economy over the last few decades has led to growing interest in its effects on different aspects of national economies. One aspect that has drawn particular attention is the effect on government spending. However, the relation between government size and econom...

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Main Authors: Ahmad, Riayati, Othman, Norashida
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
Published: School of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2014
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/48845/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/48845/1/Optimal%20size%20of%20government%20and%20economic%20growth%20in%20Malaysia%20empirical%20evidence.pdf
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author Ahmad, Riayati
Othman, Norashida
author_facet Ahmad, Riayati
Othman, Norashida
author_sort Ahmad, Riayati
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description An increased integration of the world economy over the last few decades has led to growing interest in its effects on different aspects of national economies. One aspect that has drawn particular attention is the effect on government spending. However, the relation between government size and economic growth is ambiguous. There are persuasive arguments for both positive and negative impacts on economic growth. This paper aims to test long run relation between government size and economic growth. Specifically, it test whether there is an “inverted U" shape relationship between public spending and economic growth or not and to find the optimal level of government size in Malaysia. It is important to measure the optimal level of government size to ensure its play an efficient role in the economy. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing approach, the result shows that government size in Malaysia is not exceed the optimal level. Based on the results of the study, an economic policy proposal may be that the share of public expenditure and the effectiveness of public expenditure programs should be increased to foster economic growth in Malaysia.
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format Conference or Workshop Item
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institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T10:18:24Z
publishDate 2014
publisher School of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
recordtype eprints
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spelling upm-488452017-10-25T03:02:05Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/48845/ Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence Ahmad, Riayati Othman, Norashida An increased integration of the world economy over the last few decades has led to growing interest in its effects on different aspects of national economies. One aspect that has drawn particular attention is the effect on government spending. However, the relation between government size and economic growth is ambiguous. There are persuasive arguments for both positive and negative impacts on economic growth. This paper aims to test long run relation between government size and economic growth. Specifically, it test whether there is an “inverted U" shape relationship between public spending and economic growth or not and to find the optimal level of government size in Malaysia. It is important to measure the optimal level of government size to ensure its play an efficient role in the economy. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing approach, the result shows that government size in Malaysia is not exceed the optimal level. Based on the results of the study, an economic policy proposal may be that the share of public expenditure and the effectiveness of public expenditure programs should be increased to foster economic growth in Malaysia. School of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2014 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/48845/1/Optimal%20size%20of%20government%20and%20economic%20growth%20in%20Malaysia%20empirical%20evidence.pdf Ahmad, Riayati and Othman, Norashida (2014) Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence. In: Ninth Malaysian National Economic Conference (PERKEM), 17-19 Oct. 2014, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu. (pp. 41-48). http://www.ukm.my/fep/perkem/contents/perkem2014-02.html
spellingShingle Ahmad, Riayati
Othman, Norashida
Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence
title Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence
title_full Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence
title_fullStr Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence
title_full_unstemmed Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence
title_short Optimal size of government and economic growth in Malaysia: empirical evidence
title_sort optimal size of government and economic growth in malaysia: empirical evidence
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/48845/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/48845/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/48845/1/Optimal%20size%20of%20government%20and%20economic%20growth%20in%20Malaysia%20empirical%20evidence.pdf