LAUSR

In this paper we provide a synthesis of empirical research in the validity of Wagner's law of the existing literature for the period 1969-2014. Wagner's law attracted the interest of many authors and is still being discussed by policy makers and economists in relation to government spending expansion since it was applied by Adolph Wagner in the 1880s. Additionally, we will present the previous empirical work in this topic. Since the translation of Wagner's 'law' in 1950s, a large number of authors tested various specifications of the law. All these studies found different empirical results: support, no support or mixed results. Conflicting findings in this field are not surprising because of the diverse theoretical predictions and also because countries may be at different stages of economic development; thus, the debate about the relationship between government spending and economic growth remains an unresolved issue.