When is the Government Spending Multiplier Large?

68 Pages Posted: 5 Oct 2009 Last revised: 26 Jul 2023

See all articles by Lawrence J. Christiano

Lawrence J. Christiano

Northwestern University; Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Martin Eichenbaum

Northwestern University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Sergio T. Rebelo

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 2009

Abstract

We argue that the government-spending multiplier can be much larger than one when the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate binds. The larger is the fraction of government spending that occurs while the nominal interest rate is zero, the larger is the value of the multiplier. After providing intuition for these results, we investigate the size of the multiplier in a dynamic, stochastic, general equilibrium model. In this model the multiplier effect is substantially larger than one when the zero bound binds. Our model is consistent with the behavior of key macro aggregates during the recent financial crisis.

Suggested Citation

Christiano, Lawrence J. and Eichenbaum, Martin and Tavares Rebelo, Sergio, When is the Government Spending Multiplier Large? (October 2009). NBER Working Paper No. w15394, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1482112

Lawrence J. Christiano (Contact Author)

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Martin Eichenbaum

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Sergio Tavares Rebelo

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