Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2017
This study examines the effects of borrowing for public services that increase households' utility (i.e., utility-generating government services) in an AK endogenous growth model. We assume that the government has a target debt ratio. The European Union and the United Kingdom adopt such debt policy rules. We find that application of a debt policy rule into utility-generating government spending causes indeterminacy of the transition path. We point out that the level of the target debt ratio, the tax rate, and the household utility parameters are important determinants of indeterminacy when considering utility-generating government services.
We would like to thank the editor, the associate editor, and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on the earlier version of this paper. We also gratefully acknowledge Koichi Futagami, Tarishi Matsuoka, Akihisa Shibata, Kozo Ueda, and seminar participants at Otaru University of Commerce and The University of Kitakyushu. This study was conducted while the first author was in Aoyamagakuin University. We are responsible for any remaining errors.