In an OCDE panel, for the period 1970-2010, we assess the effects of fiscal consolidation episodes, with four different definitions. Our results reveal that lower final government consumption would increase private consumption in three out of the four approaches, when there is a fiscal...

We assess the time varying features of fiscal sustainability in the euro area via revisiting the empirical relationship between the primary budget surplus and the debt-to-GDP ratio. Focusing on a sample of 11 Euro-area countries between 1999Q1 and 2013Q4 and by means of time series analyses, we...

We assess the fiscal behaviour in the European Union countries for the period 1990-2005 via the responsiveness of budget balances to several determinants. The results show that the existence of effective fiscal rules, the degree of public spending decentralization, and the electoral cycle can...