This paper studies the role of business cycles in the phenomenon of increasing government spending/GDP ratios in the OECD countries. Using a panel data set covering the 1975-1995 period, the main finding is that the prolonged rise in this ratio is linked to a cyclical bias; the spending/GDP...

This paper focuses on intergenerational welfare effects of fiscal deficits in an OLG model with wage bargaining and equilibrium unemployment.

This paper applies generational accounting to assess the impact of current fiscal policies on the growth-adjusted net tax burdens of different age cohorts in Norway. Using the most recent estimate of the government's petroleum wealth, our results indicate generational balance.

This paper presents a two-party dynamic model of optimal fiscal policy which integrates stabilizing electroral and partisan motives.

This paper presents a two-party dynamic model of optimal fiscal policy which integrates stabilizing electroral and partisan motives.

This paper studies the incidence of tax-transfer policy in a growth model wherein individuals differ according to their level of intergenerational altruism and have an endogenous labor supply. The main results is that public debt is neutral at the macro level but redistributes resources from...

This paper explores the fiscal implications to the US, and argues that immigration policy should be viewed as a vital part of fiscal policy. In particular, a case is made that skills and age at time of arrival are of great importance for the cost-benefit calculation of new immigrants.

This paper proposes a signaling model of fiscal stabilizations that offers a new perspective on why governments deviate from optimal tax smoothing. In our model, dependable -but not fully credible- governments have an incentive to tighten the fiscal regime when the signaling effect on credit...

What are the cyclical properties of U.S. state and local government fiscal policy? The budget surplus of local and, in particular, state governments is procyclical, smoothing disposable income and consumption of state residents. This happens over both short- and medium-term horizons. Procyclical...

Recent economic developments highlight Latin America's vulnerability to economic and financial turmoil that is triggered by events in distant corners of the globe. In this paper we lay out the fiscal and financial policies that can help protect economies from the kind of global financial...