This paper reviews and summarizes the literature that has concentrated on budget consolidations and their fiscal and economic effects. The issue of fiscal adjustments has again gained importance due to the recent economic crisis and the resulting fiscal imbalances. The existing literature shows...

To curb the rise of government debt it is necessary to evaluate public expenditures and revenues in terms of their necessity and efficiency. Notwithstanding the potential to improve the balance by raising taxes or levying new ones this article concentrates on adjustment options on the...

As a result of the economic crisis many countries are battling rising debt once more. Therefore political discussions about future consolidation strategies are becoming more frequent. As there is a large number of relevant studies on to fiscal adjustment, this article tries to sum up and compare...

Numerous studies show that reducing public expenditure is of particular importance to increase the likelihood that a budget consolidation will succeed. In international comparisons the high share of government spending in Austria, relative to its expenditure actually on productive issues, would...

In numerous countries the global financial and economic crisis has entailed a surge of government debt, which will call for enhanced consolidation efforts in the future. In the past consolidation strategies focusing primarily on spending cuts proved sustainable, whereas mostly revenue-based...