This paper revisits Political Budget Cycles (PBCs) in the enlarged European Union (EU). Based on a panel of 25 current EU member states from 1996 to 2012, we show that governments frequently fiscally stimulate the economy prior to elections; a phenomenon that is seemingly not only an ‘Eastern...

This paper considers whether political business cycles exist in Eastern European accession countries.Section I introduces the overall objectives of the work. Section II provides a short introductionto the political business cycle literature. It also considers the role of exchange rates,...