01955cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF014340 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781475516470 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Klemm, Alexander. Fiscal Policy in Latin America over the Cycle / Alexander Klemm. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2014. 1 online resource (32 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students This paper provides an analysis of the cyclical stance of fiscal policy in Latin America. Its contributions include developing a new measure of the cyclicality of fiscal policy, careful analysis of the statistical significance of results, and accounting for the effect of commodity prices on fiscal balances. The new cyclicality measure takes into account both discretionary policy action and automatic stabilizers, but excludes additional revenues that are due to applying an unchanged average tax rate to nominal GDP in excess of potential. The paper finds that fiscal policy has been procyclical on average in Latin America, but counter or acyclical in advanced economies. Country-specific results are mostly insignificant, except in a few cases where policy is clearly procyclical. For some countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, and Mexico), there is evidence of a recent move toward more countercyclical policies. Mode of access: Internet IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2014/059 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2014/059/001.2014.issue-059-en.xml IMF e-Library