Using a new fiscal dataset for small states, this paper analyzes the link between country size, government size, debt, and economic performance. It finds that on average small states have larger governments and higher public debt. Although there are intrinsic factors that explain why governments...

Fiscal crises are a central theme in the recent history of many emerging economies, as they are more vulnerable to budget distress than developed countries. From 1970 to 2015, emerging markets experienced more than twice as many fiscal crises as their wealthier counterparts (Gerling et al. 2017,...

Local governments in Japan account for about 80 per cent of general government spending when excluding social security expenditures. Therefore, for the implementation of fiscal policy it is important how local governments will behave. On the basis of the economic theories on fiscal federalism it...