Public Policy and Administration Review

The Impact of Public Functional Expenditures on Economic Growth in Jordan during the Period (1993- 2013)
Dr. Ali Suleiman Al-shatti

Abstract
This research aims to determine the impact of public ( governmental ) expenditures in achieving economic growth in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan during the time period ( 1993-2013 ), through the study of the functional distribution of these expenditures ( both current and capital ) in the sectors of Education, Health, Economic Affairs, and Housing and Utilities community, and to determine the contribution of each one of these sectors in achieving economic growth, and then identifying the impact of each one of them on economic growth. Two mathematical models have been designed to measure this effect, the first one measures the impact of the current functional expenses, and the other model measures the impact of capital expenditures in achieving economic growth in Jordan. The researcher used a statistical system (E-Views) to measure this effect by applying the least squares method (OLS), and the relative weight of each functional expenditure has been identified (current and capital) compared with the total of these expenses. The (Unit Root Test) was used to ascertain the extent of stationary in time series data, and the multiple regression models to measure and assess the impact of the current and capital functional expenses in achieving economic growth. We found that there is a statistically significant effect at the level of importance (0.05) for the current functional expenses in the areas of health and economic affairs, and at the level of importance (0.10) in the areas of housing and community facilities, and that there is no statistically significant impact for the current expenses in the area of education in achieving economic growth in Jordan. As it turns out, that there is a statistically significant effect at the level of importance (0.05) of the capital functional expenses in the areas of health, economic affairs, and that there is no statistically significant effect of the expenses in the areas of education, housing and community facilities in achieving economic growth in Jordan .The results showed that current and capital expenditure on education has failed to enhance economic growth, Because of the high cost of education, especially private education in the various stages of education, and especially in the higher education in Jordan, as well as the growing rate of unemployment. As we noted that expenditures on health and economic affairs should be encouraged due to their positive contributions in achieving economic growth.

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