Societies provide institutions that are costly to use, but able to enforce long-run relationships. We study the optimal decision problem of using self-governance for risk sharing or governance through enforcement provided by these institutions. Third-party enforcement is modelled as a costly...

We live in a service economy, but the extent of development of service employment differs across developed countries. This paper assesses the role of structural factors and institutions in explaining the common patterns and main differences in the recent expansion of service employment in OECD...

Inspired by a European spirit, the EU's national economic and social councils and the EESC worked together tirelessly to create a European network of economic and social councils. Thanks to the commitment of the presidents and members of all the councils, the network has helped forge systematic...

Given the consolidation needs and the provisions of the new fiscal rule, budgetary planning in Germany has become more demanding. Fiscal projections are already difficult since the link between total tax revenue and economic activity is observed to be unstable. This Country Focus identifies...

This study focuses on the most important drivers of the swift current account rebalancing which is taking place in Estonia and considers the possible way forward. After very large deficits in the boom years (2005-2007), Estonia's current account balance turned positive in the downturn, as...

Romania's domestic demand boom over the past few years has led to rapidly widening current account deficits, reaching an estimated 13½% of GDP in 2008. High private sector dissaving has been exacerbated by a procycylical fiscal policy, with the public deficit likely to exceed 3% of GDP in 2008....

Measuring public sector efficiency is not generally straightforward and presents a difficult empirical issue, specifically in terms of adequate measurement of costs and outcomes. This Country Focus attempts to measure the efficiency of public spending in Malta by applying two alternative...

The UK's self-sufficiency in fossil fuels shields public finances from the negative effects of higher oil prices on general economic activity. Changes in the international price of oil affect government revenues from the corporate and household sectors. Taxes on oil production are estimated to...

The dominance of electoral considerations in determining budgetary outcomes has been evident in Hungary over the last 15 years, with government deficits reaching their highest levels in election years (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006). This deterioration of public finances has largely been possible...