Structural Trends of General Goverment Expenditure in the Baltic and Scandinavian Countries

Abstract

This paper has analyzed the patterns of government expenditure in the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), comparing them with those in Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland and Sweden). The investigation has summarized the tendencies of structural changes of government expenditure and extent to which countries expenditure structures have been dissimilar in a period of 2004 – 2013. Breakdowns of these expenditures on the basis of the activities they support have been provided and analyzed. The authors have done this by looking both at general government expenditure statistics, and also by considering a number of descriptive statistical indicators. Firstly, based on the statistical data, structural changes of government expenditure have been analyzed. To this end, the indicators of absolute structural changes and intensity of structural changes have been applied. Secondly, Finger-einin index has been calculated in order to compare government expenditure patterns and determine their dissimilarities.