The paper proposes an overview of the literature in fiscal policies as well as a comparative assessment in an international context. A large section addresses the specific question of the European fiscal rule, namely the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP).

The purpose of this note is to propose a breakdown of the European concept into different sub-categories, based upon the different stages of the European integration process. In doing so, it is easier to understand the political differences and debate between an allegedly Anglo-Saxon approach...

After the fuzziness in Europe that surrounded the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure foreseen by the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), the European Union had to restore the credibility of the weakened fiscal rule. On March 2005, the 25 members amended the SGP. The constraint was to...

The paper addresses the question of the abolition of the Stability and Growth Pact. More and more authors and policymakers are arising the negative impacts of the European deficit rule on te countries and their ability to respond an asymmetric economic shock. Some others are asking for a...

The purpose of this note is to propose a breakdown of the European concept into different sub-categories, based upon the different stages of the European integration process. In doing so, it is easier to understand the political differences and debate between an allegedly Anglo-Saxon approach...

The existing literature on political budget cycles looks at the temptation for incumbent governments to run a greater deficit before an election by considering the characteristics of the incumbent. We propose here to look at the signals the incumbent receives from the voters. For this purpose,...

This paper addresses the question of a technical change in one the components of the Stability and Grown Pact (SGP). Indeed, the SGP is composed of (1) a political commitment, (2) a preventive element, and (3) a dissuasive element, and an improvement of the SGP efficacy can come from any of...

This paper provides a challenging view to the tax harmonization issue. The literature often proposes tax harmonization to avoid free-riding behaviors in free-trade areas, and more particularly in monetary unions. Countries may decrease their tax rates in order to develop tax competitive...

This paper addresses the question of the social policy harmonization in the European Union. In adopting a common monetary policy Europe is faced with structural and fiscal concerns, as national growth levels differ. Another possible factor in output shocks are the levels of various social...

This paper presents the results of an empirical study of price dispersion in homogeneous goods markets. Modern economic theory suggests that inevitable asymmetries of information in markets lead to an equilibrium in which price dispersion is present even when goods are perfectly homogenous. In...