In recent years, the concern that the behaviour of subnational governments may hinder the achievement of national budgetary targets has been increasingly raised across the EU. In this paper the relationship between fiscal decentralisation and budgetary outcomes of the general government is...

This paper analysis the macroeconomic effects of government support measures to the financial sector using a microfounded structural model. We simulate a crisis scenario in which the economy is hit by a severe financial shock and is subject to financial market imperfections. We then look at...

The financial and economic crisis has generated renewed interest, especially among policy-makers, in early-warning systems that could help identifying fiscal and macro-financial vulnerabilities potentially triggering risks. Against this background, this paper presents an early-warning index of...

This paper develops a DSGE model for an open economy and estimates it on euro area data using Bayesian estimation techniques. The model features nominal and real frictions, as well as financial frictions in the form of liquidity constrained households. The model incorporates active monetary and...

This paper explores the effects of discretionary fiscal policy in a DSGE model that explicitly models housing investment and allows for credit constrained households along the lines of the financial accelerator literature.The presence of credit constrained households raises the marginal...

Ensuring high quality of public finances (QPF) with a view to supporting long-term economic growth has gained new urgency as the room for fiscal manoeuvre has shrunk in light of the current crisis. To more systematically analyse QPF and compare developments across countries and over time, a...

Improving the quality of public finances (QPF) has become a new focus for European policy makers. This focus is largely a response to preparing the European economies for the dual challenge of ageing populations and increased exposure to global competition. At the EU level, the Stability and...

Study suggesting a new way to measure the structural budget balance. In the past decade, a series of EU countries have witnessed absorption booms and growing current account deficits as a result of falling risk premia and rapid financial integration. At the same time, fiscal policy in those same...

Summary for non-specialistsA bias towards running deficits is an entrenched feature of fiscal policy making in most developed economies.Our paper examines whether this tendency is in any way associated with the personal distribution of income of a country. It takes inspiration from theoretical...

We study the joint dynamics of foreign capital flows and real activity during the recent boom-bust cycle of the Spanish economy, using a three-country New Keynesian model with credit-constrained households and firms, a construction sector and a government. We estimate the model using...