Kennedy, Robbins and Delorme examine the importance of fiscal rules in determining budgetary outcomes. After briefly reviewing the rationale for rules, the paper compares the rules introduced in several countries at the national and subnational levels. It notes that while several countries have...

National fiscal frameworks (NFFs) represent a set of domestic arrangements to enhance the predictability and transparency of public finances. This chapter looks into a specific aspect of institutional convergence: the development of NFFs in the EU-11 countries following their EU accession. The...

Countries increasingly rely on independent fiscal councils to constrain policymakers' discretion and curb the bias towards excessive deficits and pro-cyclical policies. Since fiscal councils are often recent and heterogeneous across countries, assessing their impact is challenging. Using the...