This paper considers budget expansions and adjustments in OECD countries in the last three decades. Our main results are: i) on average fiscal expansions are the results of increases in expenditures, particularly of transfer programs, while contractions are typically due to tax increases; ii)...

We assess the consequences of fiscal consolidation episodes on public sector efficiency (scores) for 35 OECD countries for the 2007-2020 period. We find that fiscal consolidations improve public sector efficiency and results are robust across efficiency models. Moreover, peripheral euro-area...

France's fiscal deficit widened markedly during the crisis (from 2.7 percent of GDP in 2007 to 7.5 percent of GDP in 2009). The fiscal consolidation undertaken since 2010 has heavily relied on tax increases and needs to switch to expenditure containment. The purpose of this paper is to identify...

The Kenyan government remains committed to a planned fiscal consolidation pathway, which should help contain public debt stock at a sustainable level. Nonetheless, there are significant challenges stemming from a slowdown in revenue collection, a growing demand for transfers to county...

Using a panel of annual data for 20 countries we show that synchronized fiscal consolidation (stimulus) programmes in different countries make their business cycles more closely linked, especially in the case of fiscal adjustments lasting 2 or 3 years. We also find: (i) little evidence of...

At a time when public expenditure is undergoing change to accommodate new needs, this report studies the impact of four institutions of the budget process upon re-allocation: medium-term expenditure frameworks, rules of budgetary discipline, the Minister of finance, and programme review. It...