An implication of the incompleteness of contracts is that there are going to be gaps and ambiguities that either side can exploit. We ask whether the expectation that a counterparty is likely to act aggressively in its use of contract language impacts the price that market participants attach to...

Compiling a unique dataset describing the career trajectories of 634 former and in office public officials at debt management units (DMUs) across 26 OECD countries, this article assesses the revolving door phenomenon in government debt management. The analysis' purpose is twofold: (i) to...

This note looks at US$ and DM/Euro denominated government bond spreads relative to US and German benchmark bonds before and after the start of the current financial crisis. The study finds, first, that bond yield spreads before and during the crisis can largely be explained on the basis of...

We investigate the political determinants of risk premiums which sub-national governments in Switzerland have to pay for their sovereign bond emissions. For this purpose we analyse financial market data from 288 tradable cantonal bonds in the period from 1981 to 2007. Our main focus is on two...

Through an intertemporal budget constraint, jurisdictions may gain advantages in tax and spending competition by 'competing' on debt. While the existing spatial econometric literature focuses on tax and spending competition, very little is known about spatial interaction via public debt. This...

We study how local governments’ debt financing decisions relate to the term structure of interest rates. Using a community welfare maximization framework, we derive the link between interest rates and the adjustable-rate share of borrowing by local governments. We construct a novel database of...

Infrastructure construction is one of the basic driving forces of social and economic development. Since 1978, the construction of infrastructure in the People's Republic of China (PRC) has experienced rapid development, which has given a strong impetus to the PRC's modernization. But behind the...

Seit Einführung der neuen Schuldenregel hat sich die Finanzlage der deutschen Bundesländer deutlich verbessert. Nach unseren Berechnungen mit dem Aggregierten Quotierungsverfahren konnten die meisten Länder ihre strukturellen Budgetdefizite abbauen und im Jahr 2017 schon 14 Länder...

Seit Einführung der neuen Schuldenregel hat sich die Finanzlage der deutschen Bundesländer deutlich verbessert. Nach unseren Berechnungen mit dem Aggregierten Quotierungsverfahren konnten die meisten Länder ihre strukturellen Budgetdefizite abbauen und im Jahr 2017 schon 14 Länder...