Fiscal consolidation in Greek and German local governments differs for many reasons. While some German local governments experienced a long period of austerity, driven by economic decline and federal and state measures, the global financial crisis and "troika" programme caused the need for harsh...

Over 2010-2016, municipal debt in Germany crowded out private investment worth 1 percent of GDP. Forced to lend to municipalities by their statutes, local public banks compensated for declining municipal-debt yields by charging higher rates to firms in Germany's locally segmented credit markets....

We study the effectiveness of local borrowing regulations in maintaining fiscal sustainability and the effect of supervision over municipal budgeting on local debt using a panel on municipalities in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2003 to 2011. The identification...