Wagner versus Keynes: the causal nexus between Government Expenditures and Economic Growth: An Empirical study of Burkina Faso

Abstract

The spending patterns of governments in the world especially developing economies have changed significantly over the last several decades. The main objective of this paper is analysing the relationship between government expenditures and growth in Burkina Faso’s economy. The study focuses on testing the various versions of Wagner’s hypothesis using the Burkina Faso data between 1960-2015 by an Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. Cointegration tests, the long-run parameters and causality tests found valid Keynesian and Wagnerian relationship, but results are sensitive to the variable definition; the use of relative and absolute measures, local and international currency leads to a different conclusion.