Although local governments are essential providers of public services and infrastructure across Europe, they ultimately depend on funding from higher levels of government. The clear relevance of local government finances necessitates effective regulation in order to ensure financial...

Fiscal rules are institutional constraints on budget policymakers’ decision-making discretion aimed at fostering prudent fiscal policy, promoting overall fiscal discipline, and ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability. Since the European sovereign debt crisis, fiscal rules have been at the...

European countries employ heterogeneous and complex systems to regulate local government budgets. Although the topic has become increasingly relevant in the face of past and future economic and budgetary crises, there is a lack of cross-country studies in this field, due in part to the...

Designing the system of local funding implies the allocation of different tax sources to local governments. This challenge is of particular interest in times of economic recession since tax revenues can stabilise local revenues and therefore limit the need of fiscal regulation. International...