Demographic Change and Fiscal Sustainability in Asia

Sang-Hyop Lee, Jungsuk Kim and Donghyun Park
Additional contact information
Jungsuk Kim: Institute of International and Area Studies, Sogang University, Korea

No DP-2016-11, Working Papers from Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)

Abstract: Changes in the population age structure can have a significant effect on fiscal sustainability since they can affect both government revenue and expenditure. For example, population ageing will increase expenditure on the elderly while reducing potential growth and hence revenue. In this paper, we project government revenue, expenditure, and fiscal balance in developing Asia up to 2050. Using a simple stylised model and the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) data set, we simulate the effect of both demographic changes and economic growth. Rapidly ageing countries like the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, are likely to suffer a tangible deterioration of fiscal sustainability under their current tax and expenditure system. On the other hand, rapid economic growth can improve fiscal health in poorer countries with relatively young populations and still growing working-age populations. Overall, our simulation results indicate that Asia’s population ageing will adversely affect its fiscal sustainability, pointing to a need for Asian countries to further examine the impact of demographic shifts on their fiscal health.

Keywords: Fiscal projection; tax; public spending; fiscal balance; population ageing; Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H20 H50 H62 J11 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages.
Date: 2016-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-cmp and nep-sea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Demographic Change and Fiscal Sustainability in Asia (2017)
Working Paper: Demographic Change and Fiscal Sustainability in Asia (2016)
Working Paper: Demographic Change and Fiscal Sustainability in Asia (2016)
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