Influence of public social expenditure on the municipal gross domestic product of the Oeste Paranaense Mesorregion

Abstract

Since the economic stabilization, the Brazilian government seeks the implementation of policies that result in economic growth, such policies being accompanied by an increase in public spending, which are composed of three different categories, among which is included social spending. The State of Paraná is one of the main federative units with regard to the Gross Domestic Product and, among the mesoregions that make up the State, the Oeste Paranaense Mesoregion is among the main in relation to the state product. In this context, this study aimed to analyze the influence of municipal social public spending on the Gross Domestic Product of the Oeste Paranaense Mesoregion between the years 2013 and 2017, using the panel data technique (balanced and short) with fixed effects. There was a relative stability in the share of public social expenditure in the mesoregion with a higher average participation of the Health, Education and Urbanism functions and, considering the evolution of expenses, the most significant increases occurred in the Social Security and Sanitation functions, and the only reduction, following the trend state, occurred in the Housing function. The main results found indicated that only public social spending related to the Social Security, Health and Urbanism functions had a significant and positive influence on economic growth of the municipalities in the mesoregion.

Keywords: Public social spending. Economic growth. Panel data. Oeste Paranaense Mesoregion.