References to policy credibility, particularly with regard to fiscal policy, are ubiquitous in both economic literature and financial markets, even though it is not directly observable. The case of the EU new member states (NMS)-emerging markets joining a supranational entity that is generally...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. HOW IMPORTANT IS PUBLIC SECTOR CREDIT, AND WHERE? -- III. HOW PUBLIC SECTOR CREDIT COULD HARM FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT -- IV. DOES PUBLIC SECTOR CREDIT AFFECT THE DEPTH OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT? -- V. DOES PUBLIC SECTOR CREDIT AFFECT THE QUALITY OF...

We compile the first large cross-country panel dataset of public sector performance and efficiency, encompassing 114 countries on all income levels from 1980 to 2006, with about 1,800 country-year observations for the education sector and about 900 observations for health. We regress these...