Preface and acknowledgments / Michael A. Pagano. Overview. Introduction / Casey Sebetto. White Papers. Local government long-term liabilities : pensions, other postemployment benefits, and infrastructure / Martin J. Luby, Gary Strong, and David Saustad -- Contemporary fiscal challenges and...

Audits are a common mechanism used by governments to monitor public spending. In this paper, we discuss the effectiveness of auditing with theory and empirics. In our model, the value of audits depends on both the underlying presence of abuse and the government's ability to observe it and...