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Europe > Ireland

You are looking at 1 - 4 of 4 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government x
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Cover IMF Working Papers
How Much is A Lot? Historical Evidence on the Size of Fiscal Adjustments
Mr. Julio Escolano
,
Laura Jaramillo
,
Mr. Carlos Mulas-Granados
, and
Mr. G. Terrier
The sizeable fiscal consolidation required to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratios in several countries in the aftermath of the global crisis raises a crucial question on its feasibility. To answer this question, we rely on historical evidence from a sample of 91 adjustment episodes of countries during 1945–2012 that needed and wanted to adjust in order to stabilize debt to GDP. We find that, in at least half the cases, countries improved their cyclically adjusted primary balances by close to 5 percent of GDP. We also observe that, while countries typically make substantial efforts to stabilize debt, once this objective is achieved, they tend to ease their primary balances and do not necessarily get back to their initial lower debt-to-GDP ratio. We find that consolidations tended to be larger when the initial deficit was high and adjustment efforts were sustained over time. Fiscal adjustments also tended to be larger when accompanied by an easing of monetary conditions and, to a lesser extent, by an improvement in credit conditions.
Keywords:
WP; interest rate; debt ratio; percent of GDP; financial crisis; fiscal policy; private sector; Deficit; debt; primary balance; size of adjustment; fiscal consolidation; fiscal sustainability; CAPB change; GDP growth rate; CAPB level; debt need; developing country episode; Fiscal stance; Short term interest rates; Exchange rates; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Too Small to Fail? Subnational Spending Pressures in Europe
Luc Eyraud
and
Ms. Marialuz Moreno Badia
The purpose of this paper is to assess whether expenditure decentralization has contributed to weakening fiscal performance in Europe. Using a panel of EU15 countries for the period 1995-2011, we estimate three econometric models and ask the following questions: (1) does the form of spending decentralization affect the general government fiscal balance?; (2) is there evidence of spending duplication?; and (3) are soft budget constraints prevalent at the subnational level in Europe? Our results indicate that current decentralization models may have some shortcomings and efforts to achieve fiscal consolidation would require improvements in three areas: better matching subnational spending and revenues; reshaping some expenditure assignments to reduce overlap; and improving the effectiveness of institutional arrangements at the subnational level.
Keywords:
WP; expenditure decentralization; national government; fiscal performance; expenditure management; expenditure overlap; expenditure rule; government increase; fiscal federalism; local governments; fiscal balance; EU; expenditure pressure; expenditure control failure; General government spending; Fiscal stance; Fiscal rules; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Economic Crisis: Did Financial Supervision Matter?
Mr. Marc G Quintyn
,
Ms. Rosaria Vega Pansini
, and
Donato Masciandaro
The Asian financial crisis marked the beginning of worldwide efforts to improve the effectiveness of financial supervision. However, the crisis that started in 2007?08 was a crude awakening: several of these improvements seemed unable to avoid or mitigate the crisis. This paper brings the first systematic analysis of the role of two of these efforts - modifications in the architecture of financial supervision and in supervisory governance - and concludes that they were negatively correlated with economic resilience. Using the emerging distinction between macro- and micro-prudential supervision, we explore to what extent two separate institutions would allow for more checks and balances to improve supervisory governance and, thus, reduce the probability of supervisory failure.
Keywords:
WP; governance arrangement; central bank involvement; prudential supervision; supervision unification; supervisory governance; financial supervision; global crisis; supervisory architecture; macroprudential supervision; proactive supervision; involvement in supervision; banking industry; degree of supervision unification; governance indicator; governance work; Bank supervision; Basel Core Principles; Public sector; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Fiscal Policy and Growth in the Context of European Integration
Mr. Paul R Masson
The paper considers the issue of whether a supranational fiscal policy in Europe is needed, and, if so, what responsibilities it should undertake. The literature on endogenous growth and the principle of subsidiarity suggest that such a policy should be limited to externalities or economies of scale not captured at the national level. These may include spending on research and development and transportation or knowledge networks, and harmonization of social security designed to enhance labor mobility. EU-wide stabilization policy or enhanced EU redistribution does not seem justified, however.
Keywords:
WP; EU country; EU government; EU institution; EU budget; government program; European Union; fiscal federalism; tax competition; social security; EU government relationship; EU fiscal policy; EU financing; Income; Pensions; Europe