To carry out the analysis required for monetary policy, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) need comprehensive and reliable government finance statistics. The focus of government finance statistics has traditionally been the government as a whole...

Analysis of consolidated accounting data of European listed groups shows significant differences in some key ratios between countries. However, the figures do not reveal whether these differences result from a distinct composition of the countries’ populations in terms of branches of activity...