This paper provides evidence on the effects of the size and the composition of public spending on long-term growth and inequality. An estimated baseline convergence model captures the long-term effect of human capital and total investment on potential output for a panel of OECD countries. The...

This review analyses the institutional arrangements, evaluation instruments and processes involved in the evaluation of spending programmes and institutions in Chile. In particular, it examines the extent to which the Chilean Budget Office’s ex post evaluations are used to inform budget...

Over the past decade Austria has undertaken a carefully-considered and ambitious series of modern budgeting reforms. Evaluation of the budget reforms was purposely built into the reform process. The budget law provides for an external evaluation no later than 2017. To meet these obligations,...

This paper provides estimates of the implicit fiscal assets as well as of the evolution over time of fiscal costs and revenues related to tax-favoured retirement saving regimes in 17 OECD countries, taking into account current and future contributions, asset accumulation and withdrawals, all of...

This paper analyses trends and driving forces in the revenue composition of sub-central government (SCG). Between 1995 and 2005 the share of SCG in total government spending increased significantly from 31 to 33 percent while the SCG tax share remained stable at around 17 percent, increasing...

Taxes and cash transfers reduce income inequality more in France than elsewhere in the OECD, because of the large size of the flows involved. But the system is complex overall. Its effectiveness could be enhanced in many ways, for example so as to achieve the same amount of redistribution at...

This paper studies differences in inequality perceptions, distributional norms, and redistributive preferences between East and West Germany. As expected, there are substantial differences with respect to all three of these measures. Surprisingly, however, differences in distributional norms are...

Despite a deep recession in 2009 and weak growth in subsequent years, Hungary’s fiscal position compares favourably with many other OECD countries. Nonetheless, the underlying fiscal balance started deteriorating in 2010 and 2011. Recognising this, Hungary’s government launched an ambitious...

This paper analyses of some the key aspects of public expenditure policy in Denmark. The public expenditure to GDP ratio has abated markedly since the mid-1990s, reflecting both cyclical gains and the return on structural reforms. Nevertheless, the underlying upward pressure on government...

This paper looks at ways of ensuring Czech regions and municipalities are fully motivated to make efficiency improvements in public service provision and so help achieve countrywide fiscal sustainability. The very large number of small municipalities in the Czech Republic means that scale...