In this paper, I demonstrate that an indicator which is commonly used to assess the long-term fiscal sustainability of public finances in EU member states (“S2”) is also defined if government borrowing rates are assumed to be permanently lower than the growth rate of GDP. I illustrate this...

This paper surveys the empirical research on fiscal institutions of the last three decades. The main results are: (i) Constitutional or statutory fiscal limitations have in most cases proved to be effective in cutting down public expenditure, revenue, and debt. (ii) Budgetary proce-dures matter...

This paper studies whether budget rigidities affect the probability of countries getting into fiscal distress and reduce the likelihood of governments performing fiscal adjustments. Budget rigidities are constraints that limit the ability of the government to change the size and structure of the...

With the country still managing the COVID-19 pandemic, the election of national and local officials next year, and an increase in resources available to local governments units (LGUs) with the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia petition, major shifts in Philippine...

In the wake of the financial crisis, most developed countries have entered a period of prolonged budgetary austerity. While the success of austerity programs is still unclear, it is also an open question what success would mean for activist government in the long run. This paper rejects the...

This study presents an evaluation of the National Expenditure Program for 2013. First, this paper projects that the fiscal targets set out in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) for 2013 are likely to be met. Specifically, fiscal deficit is projected to be PHP 9.6 billion...

The current European fiscal framework is highly complex. The multitude of fiscal rules and the discretion in their enforcement precludes an effective oversight and weakens the effectiveness of fiscal rules substantially. Against this background, we present a proposal for a careful refocusing of...