Effects of government expenditure on private investment: Canadian empirical evidence

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between government expenditures and private investment in Canada during the period 1961 to 2000. To this end, effects of five categories of government expenditures on investment are examined within the cointegration and error-correction framework. The empirical results show that government expenditure on education and health has positive effects whereas government expenditures on capital and infrastructure have negative effects on private investment. The other expenditure categories, including government expenditure on protection of persons and property, expenditure on debt charges, and expenditure on government and social services have no significant effects on private investment.