Marginal rates of contribution (MRC), i.e., the rates at which additional revenues are skimmed via larger contributions or lower transfer receipts, quantify the incentives of a fiscal equalization scheme. The present paper is the first to calculate marginal rates of contribution for the Laender...

In the last decade, two major disruptions - the Great Recession and the Covid sanitary crisis - hit the world economy and gave rise to a battery of government measures. In Portugal, after the fiscal consolidation efforts implemented to tackle the severe sovereign debt crisis that accompanied the...

Deutschland benötigt bis 2030 zusätzliche öffentliche Ausgaben in Höhe von 782 Mrd. Euro für die Modernisierung. Bislang fehlt der deutschen Politik dafür ein verlässlicher Finanzierungsrahmen; diskutiert werden stets eine grundlegende Reform der Schuldenbremse oder Einsparungen. Beide...

Employing the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), this paper examines the current Chinese fiscal system and highlights its three characteristics. First, fiscal revenues are centralized at the central government while expenditures are decentralized at the local governments; second, fiscal spending...

Do gender differences matter for politicians' budgetary behaviour when confronted with an exogenous change in the institutional framework? After the 2013 Spanish municipal reform, municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants were no longer responsible for managing the provision of social...

This paper examines the evolution of the New Zealand tax system from 1845 to 1876. The key to this period is the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (UK), which was devised by the Governor, Sir George Grey, and which divided the Colony into six provinces. There were hardly any roads, so allowing...

The last 25 years has seen a transformation in how early years education and childcare is approached in England. The establishment and subsequent expansions of a "free entitlement" to funded early education and childcare have seen early years spending quadruple over the last 25 years, and a...

The European Commission's April 2023 proposals for the reform of European Union fiscal governance revolve around the principles of fiscal sustainability and national ownership. While the criterion of sustainability is at the centre of the proposals, its practical implications for the assessment...

The need for larger public investment in Europe drew attention to its role in the EU fiscal governance. The current reform proposal of the European Commission aims to incentivize higher public investment by softening deficit rules, likely at the cost of incurring higher deficits. If fiscal rules...

Do gender differences matter for politicians’ budgetary behaviour when confronted with an exogenous change in the institutional framework? After the 2013 Spanish municipal reform, municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants were no longer responsible for managing the provision of social...

We study the optimal one-shot tax reform in the standard incomplete markets model where households differ in their wealth, earnings, permanent labor skill, and age. The government can provide transfers by raising tax revenue and has several tax instruments at its disposal: a flat capital income...

Do gender differences matter for politicians' budgetary behaviour when confronted with an exogenous change in the institutional framework? After the 2013 Spanish municipal reform, municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants were no longer responsible for managing the provision of social...

Mit Ende 2023 läuft das bestehende Paktum über den Finanzausgleich aus. Derzeit laufen Verhandlungen zwischen Bund, Ländern und Gemeinden über dessen zukünftige Ausgestaltung. Letzte Änderung wurde im Jahr 2017 vorgenommen, danach wurde coronabedingt der Finanzausgleich verlängert. Aber...

This Public Expenditure and Revenue Review (PERR) identifies Burkina Faso's key public spending and revenue challenges and proposes solutions to develop more effective and transparent fiscal policies. The review, carried out by a World Bank team with inputs from the Government of Burkina Faso,...

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the reform of the EU fiscal framework, with a special focus on fiscal sustainability for Greece. Our key policy proposals for the EU fiscal rules draw on lessons from past experience, the conclusions of relevant studies and...

The fiscal framework needs in practice to achieve a balance between, on the one hand, effective budgetary rules that allow governments to commit to sound policies and, on the other, judgements and discretion in how these are applied so that the framework adequately reflects the complexity of the...

The report provides an overview of environmentally harmful subsidies in Germany and makes proposals for their reform or reduction. It focuses on subsidies that have a negative impact on the environmental goods climate, air, soil, water, biodiversity and landscape, as well as on health and the...

This paper develops a political-economic model of fiscal policy one in which" government resources are a common property' out of which interest groups can finance" expenditures on their preferred items. This setup has striking macroeconomic implications. " First, fiscal deficits and debt...

In the post-pandemic world, EU member states will need to embrace two simultaneous challenges. These will include recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and embracing the ambitions of the European Green Deal, which maps out broad policies aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and reducing...

Does exposure to crises reduce the citizens' trust in a country's president? Are individuals willing to accept fiscal reforms and make personal economic sacrifices if it would help the country to leave the crisis faster? We take advantage of two survey panels in Argentina and Uruguay, with a...

The EU's fiscal framework needs reform. While existing fiscal rules have had some impact in constraining deficits, they did not prevent deficits and debt ratios that have threatened the stability of the monetary union in the past and that continue to create vulnerabilities today. The framework...

A Public Expenditure Review (PER) is a diagnostic instrument to analyze public expenditures and revenues, support policy dialogue with government, and inform engagement with other stakeholders. During November 2021 and July 2022, a PER was conducted for Solomon Islands, titled Euro Fiscal reform...

Chapter 1: Financial control and financial management in the public sector: a managerial perspective -- Chapter 2: Implementing public financial management and internal control (PFM/IC -- Chapter 3: The distinction between public financial management and internal control (PFM/IC) and public...

Fixing the Illinois state budget requires more than simply balancing revenue and expenditures. Government budgeting also requires establishing the right mix of public goods and services in a way that is fair and efficient while minimizing interference in private markets. Understanding of these...