Government Subsidies: Concepts, International Trends, and Reform Options

Gerd Schwartz, Réjane Hugounenq and Benedict Clements

No 1995/091, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: This paper addresses the problems of defining and measuring government subsidies, examines why and how government subsidies are used as a fiscal policy tool, assesses their economic effects, appraises international empirical evidence on government subsidies, and offers options for their reform. Recent international trends in government subsidy expenditure are analyzed for the 16-year period from 1975 to 1990, using general government subsidy data for 60 countries from the System of National Accounts (SNA) and central government expenditure on subsidies and other current transfers for 68 countries from Government Finance Statistics (GFS). The paper reviews major policy options for subsidy reform, focusing on ways to improve the cost-effectiveness of subsidy programs.

Keywords: WP; subsidy program; GDP ratio; government subsidy; subsidy expenditure; SNA subsidy data; subsidy practice; consumer subsidy equivalent; cash subsidy; Government subsidies; Government finance statistics; Budget planning and preparation; Eastern Europe; Middle East; North Africa; Africa; East Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 58
Date: 1995-09-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:imf:imfwpa:1995/091

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