Summary Using the case of Russia's regions, this paper extends the literature on public sector efficiency in three directions: an attempt to better understand differences in public sector efficiency through the study of subnational governments in one country; the first examination of public...

There is a concern that the state dominated, inefficient and fragile banking systems in many low-income countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, are a major hindrance to economic growth. In this context, this article systematically analyses the impact of the far-reaching banking sector reforms...

Durch den Eintritt Österreichs in die dritte Stufe der Europäischen Währungsunion hat sich die Höhe der von der Casterreichischen Nationalbank (OeNB) benötigten Fremdwährungsreserven deutlich reduziert. Erstens braucht die OeNB keine Reserven zur Verteidigung des Schillingkurses mehr....

This paper compares Canadian central government budget forecasting with forecasting by other industrial countries. While fiscal forecasting in Canada is governed by one of the strongest institutional frameworks, quantitative analysis suggests that budget projections of macroeconomic and fiscal...

In recent years financial globalization and benign global market conditions have helped emerging markets in their external financing and budgetary positions. This paper examines three related issues: (i) the importance of the impact of the benign financial environment on fiscal performance; (ii)...

We compile the first large cross-country panel dataset of public sector performance and efficiency, encompassing 114 countries on all income levels from 1980 to 2006, with about 1,800 country-year observations for the education sector and about 900 observations for health. We regress these...

Cost-efficiency, scale efficiency, and productivity change are estimated by data envelopment analysis; and cost-efficiency is regressed on explanatory variables. No evidence is found for average productivity responding to deregulation over the period studied. State-owned banks are found to be...

This paper benchmarks the efficiency of public expenditure in the social sectors in the Russian Federation relative to other countries and among the country's regions. It finds that there is substantial room for efficiency gains, particularly in health care and social protection, although less...

We examine the effects of public sector borrowing from the domestic banking system on financial development in middle-income countries. While these countries' external debt has been falling, the share of bank credit absorbed by the public sector has been rising rapidly. We argue that this runs...

This paper examines the (quasi-)fiscal impact of the (opportunity) cost of international reserves. It proposes a conceptual framework, with particular emphasis on two hitherto somewhat neglected aspects: a more appropriate measure of gross opportunity cost, and potential savings from lower...