Raising the effectiveness of Italy’s public sector is more urgent than ever. It will be key to revive investment and productivity and improve access to quality public services for the most vulnerable. The quality of public goods and services is variable, weakening Italy’s resilience to...

Fiscal rules that constrain sub-central government (SCG) budgeting are very common across the OECD, but there are substantial cross-country differences in their implementation and impact. This paper presents the 2011 update of the fiscal rules database established in 2005. As in 2005, budget...

The main features of China’s current sub-national finance arrangements date back to the 1994 tax reform. China has a multi-level government structure that shares national tax revenues through a system of tax sharing and transfers, and divides spending assignments and responsibilities. Local...

Economic growth is projected to be strengthening from mid-2011 onwards, but will be insufficient to restore the sustainability of public finances. The Belgian strategy to prefund ageing costs by generating fiscal surpluses to bring down public debt was derailed by the global crisis. Restoring...

There is growing interest in the role of independent fiscal institutions, or fiscal councils, in helping to improve fiscal performance. This paper provides some guidance on the scope for improving fiscal performance through fiscal councils based on the available literature and the range of...

This paper analyses the main features of Sweden’s public expenditure and addresses some key policy issues. Public spending is high relative to GDP, reflecting the wide support for the Swedish welfare state. The institutional framework within which spending decisions are made has both strengths...

This paper highlights some key policy issues regarding the performance of public expenditure and proposes an analytical framework for its assessment. The framework distinguishes three economic objectives of policies in the pursuit of better performance of public expenditure: macroeconomic...

Public sector reforms and a refocusing of spending, partly through privatisation, have created a leaner and more effective government in Mexico. Primary expenditure, at around 18 per cent of GDP in 1999, is less than half the average for the OECD. At the same time, there are important spending...

Public spending is very high in Norway, partly reflecting an extensive coverage of the welfare system and ambitious regional development objectives. Moreover, several institutional features contribute to dampening the cost-effectiveness of many public-spending programmes. Abundant oil revenues...

This paper analyses the main features of Iceland’s public expenditure and addresses some key policy issues. While overall public spending is not high compared with Iceland’s Nordic neighbours, other OECD countries have made more progress in reining it in. Budget consolidation efforts and...