Over the past decade, public expenditure in Slovakia was characterised by substantial social transfers and high public sector wage expenses. This paper analyses the main features of Slovakia’s public expenditure system, reviews expenditure trends, and discusses recent reform initiatives. The...

Although Korea has the second-lowest level of public spending among OECD countries at 22½ per cent of GDP, it faces strong upward spending pressures over the medium and longer term, which could threaten fiscal sustainability. This paper analyses the main features of Korea’s public expenditure...

Revamping fiscal relations across levels of government is of paramount importance in supporting fiscal consolidation and public sector effectiveness. This paper analyses a number of problems, including regulations that limit local governments’ ability to innovate and respond to local...

Enhanced autonomy of sub-national governments has spurred innovative management. Spending assignments across levels of government, however, often overlap and/or are not yet fully understood by most citizens. Sub-national governments’ accountability is further reduced by the heavy reliance on...

In about two decades, Spain was transformed from one of the most centralised countries to one of the most decentralised. Spending functions were devolved rapidly. The regions have exercised their discretionary powers quite extensively and innovative policies have been implemented. But devolution...

This paper reviews the fiscal relations between the three levels of government in Austria and points to the scope for reforming them with a view to improving the efficiency of the public sector. Key areas of public sector activity are subject to complex relations across the three layers of...

This paper tests the hypothesis that, by giving people more voice in the government decision-making process, fiscal decentralisation fosters social capital, measured in terms of interpersonal trust. Empirical evidence based on World Values Survey data and seemingly unrelated probit estimations...

Depuis le début des années 90, lorsque le déficit des administrations publiques de la France avait atteint le niveau inquiétant de 6 pour cent du PIB, les finances publiques du pays se sont nettement redressées, même si de nouvelles améliorations substantielles sont nécessaires. Ce...