We analyse how fiscal decentralization affects the volatility of government consumption extending the existing literature that mainly deals with the effects of the former on government size. Using data for 97 developed and developing countries from 1971 to 2010, we find that a higher degree of...

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it presents a very concise way of measuring fiscal stance. This procedure is based on the assumption that the ‘neutral change’ in the government budget can best be simulated with a long-term approximation of the underlying trend of total output....

This paper aims to examine the adequacy of the Brazilian budget expenditures in the national defense function to the national needs of this public good provision. The lack of indicators allowing to measuring the effectiveness of spending in terms of the National Defense Policy is remarked. For...

Sound public finances are crucial for ensuring a successful transformation of transition countries to democratic market economies. The transition countries in North Africa are an important example for this. These countries experienced increasing budget deficits in 2011 and 2012. Public finances...

Abstract The paper investigates the revenue-expenditure nexus for Ghana. The study covers the period 1980-2013. It examines whether increases in government revenue cause increases in government expenditure or increases in government expenditure cause increases in government revenue. It also...

The budgeting process has been recently reformed in Italy (L. 196/2009) in order to improve control of budget and transparency in the provision of clear information on government fiscal policy. Indeed, the general government final expenditures often deviate significantly from the initial...

Recently the popularity of fiscal rules has been increasing also due to the impact of macroeconomic and financial shocks on fiscal sustainability. This paper reviews supranational and national fiscal rules implemented in the Visegrad countries (V4). Namely, we base the review and comparison of...

As an innovator in the financial system, China was the first to use paper currency. Eventually the form of currency was held responsible for devastating inflation and was abandoned during the Ming Dynasty. Going forward in time, uprisings and discontent have emphasized the importance of...

The economic and financial crisis of 2007/2009 has posed unexpected challenges on both the global and the regional level. Besides the US, the EU has been the most severely hit by the current economic crisis. The financial and banking crisis on the one hand and the sovereign debt crisis on the...