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Ricardian Equivalence: Further Evidence, Atreya Chakraborty

Atreya Chakraborty

The Ricardian Hypothesis states that for a given level of government expenditure, aggregate demand is neutral to changes in the debt-to-tax ratio. Many economists argue that the private and government sectors have different planning horizons which will lead to deviations from Ricardian equivalence. In this paper, by using a model that nests both Ricardian equivalence and an alternative hypothesis, we empirically investigate whether the private sector has a shorter planning horizon than the government sector. The evidence presented in this study suggests that there is no difference between the planning horizons of the private and government sectors.