Testing Wagner’s law versus the Keynesian hypothesis for GCC countries

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This paper examines the relationship between real GDP and government spending for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Linear Granger causality tests in the time and frequency domains provide moderate support for Wagner’s law in four countries and weak support for the Keynesian model in two countries. In contrast, asymmetric nonlinear causality tests in the frequency domain support Wagner’s law in five countries, while some form of the Keynesian hypothesis is valid in all six GCC countries. Our results illustrate the importance of using nonlinear, asymmetric models to examine causal relationships

Greek adolescents, fitness, fatness, fat intake, activity, and coronary heart disease risk.

A dramatic increase in adult mortality rates from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Greece, accompanied by increased prevalence of CHD risk factors in children, has been documented. However, there is controversy about the independent effects of certain lifestyle parameters on primary CHD risk factors. This article examine the association between CHD risk factors (HDL-C, LDL-C, HDL-C/TC, triglycerides, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and lifestyle parameters (fitness, fatness, fat intake, and physical activity) in 210 12-year old Greek pupils. Correcting for the fixed factors of gender and maturation, analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) with backward elimination of the lifestyle covariates revealed significant associations between three CHD risk factors (HDL-C, HDL-C/TC, systolic blood pressure) and physical activity levels. In contrast, the covariates aerobic fitness, fatness and fat intake failed to reach significance with any of the CHD risk factors. In Greek schoolchildren, primary CHD risk factors are mainly associated with physical activity levels, independently of fitness, fatness, and/or fat intake. Prevention strategies should concentrate on enhancing physical activity early in life, if the increased prevalence of Greek adult CHD mortality is to be diminished