Conflicts of interest within hierarchic government organizations regarding the importance of fiscal discipline create the need for institutions that curb the bargaining power of units in charge of implementing policy and align their incentives to the interests of the whole organization. We...

This paper develops an index measuring the adequacy of the institutions, rules and procedures governing the budget process in 46 African countries, presenting the most comprehensive analysis of African budget institutions hitherto conducted. The index includes the three stages of the budget...

Elected representatives have little incentive to pursue the interests of those electing them once they are elected. This well-known principle-agent problem leads, in a variety of theories of government, to nonoptimally large levels of government expenditure. An implication is that budgetary...

From to beginning of year 2002, the Spanish Autonomous Communities (CC. AA.) fiscal performance is conditioned by a new legal framework compounded from the financial agreement and the legislation on budget stability. This new framework implies a change in the CC. AA. fiscal behaviour. Are the...

Whenever a central government faces a sub-unit in financial distress, the unpleasant question arises of whether to assist the unit or not. On the one hand, resisting to bail out the unit may lead to default or bankruptcy, which could be very costly both economically and politically. On the other...

Seit Einführung der neuen Schuldenregel hat sich die Finanzlage der deutschen Bundesländer deutlich verbessert. Nach unseren Berechnungen mit dem Aggregierten Quotierungsverfahren konnten die meisten Länder ihre strukturellen Budgetdefizite abbauen und im Jahr 2017 schon 14 Länder...

Seit Einführung der neuen Schuldenregel hat sich die Finanzlage der deutschen Bundesländer deutlich verbessert. Nach unseren Berechnungen mit dem Aggregierten Quotierungsverfahren konnten die meisten Länder ihre strukturellen Budgetdefizite abbauen und im Jahr 2017 schon 14 Länder...

Nach den Berechnungen der Autoren mit dem vom Stabilitätsrat verwendeten Aggregierten Quotierungsverfahren (AQV) konnten im Jahr 2017 schon 14 Bundesländer strukturell mindestens ausgeglichene Haushalte erzielen. In der aktuellen Niedrigzinsphase überzeichnet das AQV jedoch die erzielten...

Central government bailouts of local governments are commonly viewed as a recipe for local fiscal indiscipline, as local governments learn that the center will come to the rescue in times of trouble. However, little is known about the consequences of bailouts granted conditional on local...