Cross-country evidence on sub-central governments’ responses to cuts in grants received from central government shows the typical response is to adjust expenditure rather than offset cuts by raising ‘own’ revenues. Spending cuts are focused on the wage bill and, disproportionately, on...

Fiscal consolidations, episodes where governments make large discretionary improvements in their fiscal positions, have received considerable attention, especially in EMU. The existing literature demonstrates that the composition of consolidations is a crucial determinant of their success. We...

In this paper we argue that government procurement policy played a role in stimulating the wave of innovation that hit the US economy in the 1980s, as well as the simultaneous increase in inequality and in education attainment. Since the early 1980s U.S. policy makers began targeting commercial...

In this paper we argue that government spending played a significant role in stimulating the wave of innovation that hit the U.S. economy in the late 1970s and in the 1980s, as well as the simultaneous increase in inequality and in education attainment. Since the late 1970’s U.S. policy makers...