A vast theoretical and empirical literature states that fiscal policy in developing countries is procyclical, whereas in industrialized countries fiscal policy is countercyclical or acyclical. Using fiscal and macroeconomic monthly data covering the period from March 2002 to July 2011, the results obtained from GMM estimations in static and dynamic models indicate procyclical fiscal policy in Brazil, where the theories about tax base variability, corruption, and informal economy contribute to explain this behavior. However, the theory about international credit constraint does not find empirical support in the analyzed period.
Procyclical Fiscal Policy; Informal Economy; Corruption; Capital Flows; Tax Base Variability
