This paper examines the fiscal and monetary policy options available to China as a sovereign currency-issuing nation operating in a dollar standard world. We first summarize a number of issues facing China, including the possibility of slower growth, global imbalances, and a number of domestic...

In 2011, the State Audit Office started the system-level audit of local governments. Based on risk analysis, the first round of audits covered the 19 counties, the 23 towns with county rank as well as the capital; of the 304 towns auditors checked 63 through on-the-spot checks of local...

This article examines effectiveness of sub-national borrowing control regimes in maintaining overall fiscal sustainability. The results suggest that regulating sub-national borrowing based on fiscal rules performs most efficiently in maintaining fiscal consolidation. Furthermore, sole reliance...

France has a track record of persistent general government deficits, partly reflecting pro-cyclical fiscal policies in upswings. This has resulted in a quadrupling of its public debt-to-GDP ratio since the 1970s to above 80% of GDP. Reducing public debt is crucial because a high level of public...

Does fiscal governance affect government borrowing costs? We operationalize fiscal governance as the ability of governments to pass a budget on time and, using a unique data set on budget enactment dates, analyze the effect of such late budgets on government bond yield spreads. Based on a sample...

Interjurisdictional Differentials and their Effects; State and Local Borrowing The paper puts forward, using an extensive documentation included in the «Report 2011 on the Municipal Finance» (293 pages, 70 tables), a crucial issue: in Italy was actually made a Municipal Finance Reform, defined...

We analyze how a key component of fiscal governance, the ability of governments to pass a budget on time, affects government bond yield spreads. Based on a sample of 36 US states from 1988 to 1997, and using an original data set on budget enactment dates, we estimate that a 30day budget delay...

Serious deterioration in government fiscal finances in the late 1990s and early 2000s asked for prudent fiscal management. The fiscal deterioration of 1990s and 2000s led to elevated levels of debt liabilities at both the national and sub-national level. Uttar Pradesh (UP) fiscal position during...

The management of the Hungarian municipal sector has received special attention since the crisis in 2008 and interest in the sector increased further due to the changes in legislation in 2011. A great number of economy experts and speakers on behalf of the government or the municipalities...

This paper offers a theoretical explanation of the difficulties embodied in a process of fiscal decentralization from national to sub-national governments, as it is empirically observed in numerous developing countries. A game theoretic framework is used to show that the central government's...