Can fiscal transparency, accountability and macro-fiscal stabilization be imposed by adopting a fiscal responsibility law (FRL)? Skeptics argue that law is impotent or that the existing legal framework for the budget system suffices. In Europe, supranational fiscal rules were previously seen to...

Many African countries are benefiting from reductions in their external debt. One important objective is to redirect the budgetary resources released from servicing external debt towards poverty-reducing expenditures. Several questions arise in this context. First, are the public expenditure...

Beaucoup de pays africains ont obtenu des réductions de leur dette extérieure. Ces réductions ont pour objet, entre autres, de réaffecter les ressources budgétaires ainsi libérées à la lutte contre la pauvreté. Toutefois, cela ne va pas sans soulever plusieurs questions. Premièrement,...

Fiscal Responsibility Laws (FRLs) appear to be more popular in middle-income countries than advanced countries, even though their success is limited. The reasons why few advanced countries have a FRL include: the existing legal framework for the budget system is adequate; supranational rules and...

This paper presents new housing equation estimates for the major seven countries in INTERLINK, the OECD world econometric model. Theoretical and empirical aspects of housing investment behaviour are discussed in a model context. Estimation results using an adjustment model for the stock of...

This paper presents a technical description of the OECD's multi-sector, multi-country applied general equilibrium model -- the WALRAS model. This model has been developed with the explicit objective of quantifying the economy-wide effects of agricultural policies in OECD countries. The common...

This paper presents a progress report on the Economics and Statistics Department's applied general equilibrium model -- the WALRAS model. This model has been developed with the explicit objective of quantifying the economy-wide effects of agricultural policies in OECD countries. The common...

Country-specific factors prevent a strong linear relationship between the legislature's budgetary powers and the extent of its separation from the executive. Electoral and voting systems, bicameralism, constitutional and legal constraints, voluntary contracts of political parties, and...

This paper assesses a decade of experience in civil service reform in a sample of 32 sub-Saharan African countries. Many countries have made an important start towards reducing excessive staffing levels and the nominal wage bill, but less progress has been made in decompressing salary...

There has been widespread adoption of new laws to support new public management. In many countries that have implemented comprehensive and deep reforms, new or amended laws have fundamentally changed the role of the state and the budget processes supporting it. Paradoxically, far-reaching...