INFLUENCE OF CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC SPENDING ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING AFRICAN COUNTRIES – (2016- 2021)
Public spending, Economic growth, CPLP, Transparency.
Public spending is an important component for economic growth, however, the level of corruption can impact the effectiveness of such spending. On the other hand, there is scarce literature investigating the effects of public spending on economic growth amid the effects of corruption, applied to developing countries, especially in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). Therefore, based on Keynesian theory and the work of Devarajan et al. (1996), this study aims to analyze the influence of public spending on CPLP’s economic growth in the period from 2016 to 2021 with control for the level of public transparency through Transparency International’s corruption perception index. Public spending was first considered by economic category (current spending and capital spending) and then by function (public safety and order, education, infrastructure, and finally, health). To control for the endogeneity of economic-financial variables, we used the predominant model in this type of literature, GMM, in order to test the hypotheses of the positive influence of public spending on economic growth in CPLP. The results show that all variables were positive and statistically significant, that is, they positively influence CPLP’s economic performance. On the other hand, the control variable, Transparency, harms economic performance, which contradicts the literature on the influence of corruption on economic growth.