We seek to understand how Laffer curves differ across countries in the US and the EU-14, thereby providing insights into fiscal limits for government spending and the service of sovereign debt. As an application, we analyze the consequences for the permanent sustainability of current debt...

Based on a sample of 56 countries, we find that while fiscal policy in the G-7 countries appears to be broadly consistent with Barro's tax smoothing proposition, in developing countries government spending and taxes are highly procyclical (i.e., government spending rises and taxes fall during...

The OECD Principles for Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure aim to help governments work with private-sector partners to finance and bring to fruition infrastructure projects in areas of vital economic importance, such as transport, water and power supply and telecommunications. These...

Public expenditure control has become a central element of economic policy in many countries. This report analyses budget practices and some recent innovations from the point of view of senior public servants in the central budget offices of nineteen OECD Member countries. It also summarises the...

This report analyses selected public expenditure programmes supporting environmental investments in water supply and wastewater treatment infrastructure in four OECD countries: Austria, Belgium (the Region of Flanders), France and Germany. These programmes have been selected as they involve...

Effective systems for allocating, managing and controlling public sector resources are fundamental elements of good governance. The need for continuing fiscal restraint and demands for more and better public services are changing budgetary practices in OECD countries. Budgets are being used...

This paper studies the patterns of fiscal stimuli in the OECD countries propagated by the global crisis. Overall, we find that the USA net fiscal stimulus was modest relative to peers, despite it being the epicenter of the crisis, and having access to relatively cheap funding of its twin...

We examine the evidence on episodes of large stances in fiscal policy, both in cases of fiscal stimuli and in that of fiscal adjustments in OECD countries from 1970 to 2007. Fiscal stimuli based upon tax cuts are more likely to increase growth than those based upon spending increases. As for...

This paper investigates the long- and short-run determinants of the real exchange rate using a panel of data for fourteen OECD countries. The data are analyzed using time series and panel unit root and panel cointegration methods. Two dynamic productivity-based models are used to motivate the...