Using time-series and panel data methodologies, the paper analyzes the existence and shape of the «BARS curve» (Barro, Armey, Rahn, and Scully) for EU countries in the period 1970-2009, connecting the size of Government (measured by the share of public expenditure on GDP) to the rate of...

This paper analyses intergovernmental transfers in France and Italy to assess how soft budget spending behaviors may result from slacks in institutional constraints or from phenomena related to political culture, like administrative practices or implementation of rules. It innovates on the...