We use a new approach to assess long-term fiscal developments. By analyzing the time varying behaviour of the two components of government spending and revenue responsiveness and persistence - we are able to infer about the sources of fiscal behaviour. Drawing on quarterly data we estimate...

Dolph Wagner advances the idea that public expenditure follow the evolution of GDP. This long-run relationship, qualified as low, is not verified here in the case of France. Therefore, we include other variables and particularly political facts like electoral cycles and budgetary constraints...

Using an extended data set of EU countries ranging from 1971-2006 and relevant econometric methods, we investigate the economic, political, and institutional determinants of government deficits in the EU. The results show a strong opportunistic behaviour of policymakers which leads to political...