Using a panel of 21 OECD countries and 40 years of annual data, we find that countries with similar government budget positions tend to have business cycles that fluctuate more closely. That is, fiscal convergence (in the form of persistently similar ratios of government surplus/deficit to GDP)...

China encountered problems preserving economic stability while pursuing reforms aimed at increasing its economic flexibility and efficiency. This paper examines China's experience with market-oriented reforms since 1978, offering lessons for other centrally planned economies in the midst of...

Market-oriented economic reforms in centrally planned economies have altered the functions and objectives of key policy instruments, particularly in the case of fiscal policy. As a result of reform, economic management requires the use of quot;indirectquot; levers to regulate the behavior of...

Two economists of the National Bank of Hungary review fiscal developments during a decade of transition in Hungary. The paper examines the role of fiscal policy in stabilizing the economy in the face of external and reform-induced shocks, the way in which fiscal policy contributed to the...

This paper describes the particular impacts of the financial and economic crisis on Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, studies pro-cyclicality of fiscal policies, discusses the impact of the crisis on fiscal policy, and the policy response of various governments. After drawing some...