The volume collects the essays presented at the 15th Workshop on Public Finance organised by Banca d'Italia in Perugia from 4 to 6 April 2013. The workshop focused on the link between fiscal policy and macroeconomic imbalances and comprised four sessions. The first session concentrated on the...

We test whether the sharp increase in sovereign spreads of euro area countries with respect to Germany after the explosion of the Greek crisis was due to deteriorating macroeconomic and fiscal fundamentals or to some form of financial contagion. Our analysis includes indicators of domestic and...

The reliability of EMU�s fiscal indicators has been questioned by recent episodes of large upward deficit revisions. This paper discusses the causes of such revisions in order to identify ways to improve monitoring. The computation of EMU�s deficit indicator involves the assessment of...

Rainy Day Funds (RDFs) have an important role in the USA. They allow States � which usually have rules requiring a balanced budget for current revenue and spending � to limit procyclical fiscal policies. This paper examines the possible role of RDFs in the European fiscal framework....

The paper examines the development of Italy�s public finances after the consolidation period 1992-97, which secured participation in the European Monetary Union from the outset. The �structural� developments in the main budgetary components are assessed, excluding the effects of...

This paper has two objectives: the first is to jointly analyse monetary and fiscal policy with a structural VAR model, evaluate the dynamic impact of policy shocks on U.S. output and prices and the contributions of these two sources to fluctuations in these variables. The second objective is to...

The aim of this paper is to design the optimal institutional arrangement for a monetary union. Using a two-country rational expectations model, the study analyses how the conservatism of the area-wide central bank and the penalty system for fiscal deviation (Stability and Growth Pact) should be...

This paper evaluates the macroeconomic effects of simultaneously implementing fiscal consolidation and competition-friendly reforms in a country of the euro area by simulating a large-scale dynamic general equilibrium model. We find, first, that the joint implementation of reforms has additional...

The process of European monetary integration has prompted interest in the study of differences in financial systems and their consequences for monetary transmission mechanisms. This paper analyses the case of a monetary union composed of countries with heterogeneous "credit channels". In order...

The volume collects the essays presented at the 14th Workshop on Public Finance organised by Banca d'Italia in Perugia from 29 to 31 March 2012. The workshop focused on the interaction between fiscal policy and growth and was organised in four sessions. The first session dealt with the...