Independent fiscal councils are claimed to mitigate political failures in fiscal policymaking and increase fiscal performance. However, to influence and persuade policymakers these watchdog councils need to have access at different stages of the budget process. This paper examines the extent to...

This paper examines the rationale for the imposition of fiscal rules as a way to reduce budgetary imbalances. It presents theoretical arguments for the existence of a “fiscal deficit bias” and the empirical evidence on the economic, political and institutional factors leading to this bias....