In Lisbon the European Council proclaimed a European growth strategy. It considers an average economic "growth rate of around 3 percent as a realistic prospect for the coming years" and assigns public finances an important role in the process of achieving this goal. This paper addresses the...

The influence of government size on per capita GDP growth has attracted much interest from scholars during the past two decades. However, despite all the work conducted, there is no consensus among researchers on the importance of government size in affecting economic growth. Some authors find...

The current economic crisis has led several rich countries to experience severe fiscal deficits. Among other factors responsible for the situation, corruption is considered harmful to public finances and appears closely related to fiscal deficits. This paper opens a new avenue in addressing the...