OECD Development Centre Working Papers

ISSN :
1815-1949 (online)
DOI :
10.1787/18151949
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The OECD Development Centre links OECD members with developing and emerging economies and fosters debate and discussion to seek creative policy solutions to emerging global issues and development challenges. This series of working papers is intended to disseminate the OECD Development Centre’s research findings rapidly among specialists in the field concerned. These papers are generally available in the original English or French, with a summary in the other language.
 

Fiscal Policy in Latin America

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Authors:
Christian Daude1, Ángel Melguizo1, Alejandro Neut1
Author Affiliations
  • 1: OECD, France

Publication Date
25 Aug 2010
Bibliographic information
No.:
291
Pages
55
DOI
10.1787/5km8zdcp7j41-en

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This paper analyses fiscal policy for several economies in Latin America, from the early nineties to the 2009 crisis. We present original estimates of cyclically-adjusted public revenues for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay implementing the standardised OECD methodology and extending it to include commodity cycles, which have a direct and significant effect on the fiscal balance of several Latin American countries. Based on these estimates, we evaluate the size of automatic tax stabilisers and the cyclicality of discretionary fiscal policy. Additionally, we highlight the uncertainty stemming from the estimation of the output gap, due to large and simultaneous cyclical, temporary and permanent shocks in several Latin American economies.
Keywords:
public finances, business cycle, fiscal policy
JEL Classification:
  • E62: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics / Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook / Fiscal Policy
  • H30: Public Economics / Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents / General
  • H60: Public Economics / National Budget, Deficit, and Debt / General