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...

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...

Compared to eight other European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden, UK), Austria's labour market performance is better than average. In 2008, a higher-than-average share of the working-age population (15 to 64 years) had jobs and the share of the...

In order to progress towards a more fiscally sustainable pension system, reforms to encourage a prolonged working life and later retirement were implemented in Austria in 2000 and in 2003. An evaluation of the retirement behaviour of (former) wage earners retiring between 1998 and 2007 shows a...

Legislative bargaining theory suggests that fiscal transfers among member states of a federation are determined to a substantial degree by political bargaining powers. Malapportionment of the states' population in the legislature is claimed to lead to disproportionally higher benefits to...

Following difficult negotiations, the European institutions eventually, in May 2006, arrived at a consensus on a new Financial Framework for the European Union's budget over the years 2007 to 2013. In an additional declaration, the European Commission was invited to undertake a full review...

As of the beginning of the year 2008, a reformed system of federal fiscal relations will start in Austria with a planned duration of six years. The new system is essentially a continuation of the previous system. However, the agreements also include the establishment of a commission of experts...

Legislative bargaining theory suggests that fiscal transfers among member states of a federation are determined to a substantial degree by political representation effects. Malapportionment of the states'population in the legislature is claimed to lead to disproportional benefits of...