Prioritization of public expenditure for a better return on social development: A data mining approach

Abstract

Public expenditure affects people both directly, through subsidies and transfers, and indirectly through affecting consumption and production activities. The effects of public expenditure depend not only on its absolute values but also on both its composition and the efficiency of this spending. This paper uses data mining techniques to reach a model that maximizes social develoment through efficient allocation of public expenditure and assesses the current state of Egypt with respect to the model reached. Out of five tested models, decision tree was the one found more appropriate given this research focus and data available.