Electoral Institutions, Cabinet Negotiations, and Budget Deficits in the European Union

Electoral Institutions, Cabinet Negotiations, and Budget Deficits in the European Union PDF Author: Mark Hallerberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Budget deficits
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
A rough consensus has emerged that states with proportional representation systems are likely to run larger deficits than plurality states. We argue that electoral institutions matter because they restrict the type of budgetary institution at the governmental phase which a state has at its disposal. Cabinet members may willingly delegate authority to a finance minister who can monitor spending ministers and punish those who "defect" in a process we label "delegation, " and this procedure is feasible in states where one-party governments are the norm. Such states usually have plurality electoral systems. In multi-party governments, which are common in states with proportional representation, the coalition members are not willing to delegate to one actor the ability to monitor and punish the others. Negotiated targets in the form of fiscal contracts provide an alternative in multi-party governments. Pooled time series regression results for the current European Union states in the period 1981-94 support our contention that it is the presence or absence of one of these budgetary institutions, rather than the plurality/proportional representation dichotomy, which has the greatest impact on debt levels.

Electoral Institutions, Cabinet Negotiations, and Budget Deficits in the European Union

Electoral Institutions, Cabinet Negotiations, and Budget Deficits in the European Union PDF Author: Mark Hallerberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Budget deficits
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
A rough consensus has emerged that states with proportional representation systems are likely to run larger deficits than plurality states. We argue that electoral institutions matter because they restrict the type of budgetary institution at the governmental phase which a state has at its disposal. Cabinet members may willingly delegate authority to a finance minister who can monitor spending ministers and punish those who "defect" in a process we label "delegation, " and this procedure is feasible in states where one-party governments are the norm. Such states usually have plurality electoral systems. In multi-party governments, which are common in states with proportional representation, the coalition members are not willing to delegate to one actor the ability to monitor and punish the others. Negotiated targets in the form of fiscal contracts provide an alternative in multi-party governments. Pooled time series regression results for the current European Union states in the period 1981-94 support our contention that it is the presence or absence of one of these budgetary institutions, rather than the plurality/proportional representation dichotomy, which has the greatest impact on debt levels.

Policy Instruments for Sound Fiscal Policies

Policy Instruments for Sound Fiscal Policies PDF Author: J. Ayuso-i-Casals
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230271790
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
This volume contributes to empirical research on the role of national fiscal rules and institutions in shaping fiscal policies. It provides original, policy-oriented analysis on a number of questions and gives illuminating conclusions about the devices which promote sound and sustainable policy. Contributors are leading experts.

New Research on Politics and Economics of Europe

New Research on Politics and Economics of Europe PDF Author: Christopher L. Hughes
Publisher: Nova Publishers
ISBN: 9781600211577
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
New Research on Politics & Economics of Europe

Institutions, Politics and Fiscal Policy

Institutions, Politics and Fiscal Policy PDF Author: Rolf R. Strauch
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461545552
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Rolf R. Strauch and Jiirgen von Hagen Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI), University of Bonn; ZEI, University of Bonn, Indiana University, and CEPR The large and persistent deficits, rising levels of debt and growing levels of public spending observed in many DECO economies during the past 25 years have stimulated much theoretical and empirical research on the political economy of public finance. Although a number of issues have been studied extensively, certain areas are still at an exploratory stage and need further theorizing and thorough empirical research. During the last two decades, the theoretical debate on budgeting has been dominated by the controversy between partisan and institutionalist approaches. Within the more political-science oriented, institutionalist literature, a controversy exists between the distributive and the informational perspectives, each setting forth a distinctive organizational rationale of parliaments with different fiscal implications. The papers in this volume cover these different perspectives, extend previous models, and test their empirical validity. The papers were originally written for a conference on "Institutions, Politics, and Fiscal Policy" organized by the Center for European Integration Studies at the University of Bonn, Germany, in July 1998. The book is organized in three parts each focusing on a distinctive aspect. The first part is dedicated to the partisan perspective. The second part focuses on budget institutions. The third part consists of three case studies of institutional reform of the budget process. This book is directed to academics and practitioners alike.

Deficits and Debt in Industrialized Democracies

Deficits and Debt in Industrialized Democracies PDF Author: Eisaku Ide
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317575873
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Since the global financial crisis, government debt has soared globally by 40 percent and now exceeds an astonishing $100 trillion. Not all countries, though, have fared the same. Indeed, even prior to the financial crisis, the fiscal fates of countries have been diverging, despite predictions that pressures from economic globalization push countries toward more convergent fiscally conservative policies. Featuring the work of an international interdisciplinary team of scholars, this volume explains patterns of fiscal performance (persistent patterns of budget deficits and government debt) from the 1970s to the present across seven countries – France, Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States. Employing a comparative case study approach, seldom employed in studies of fiscal performance, contributions illuminate the complex causal factors often overlooked by quantitative studies and advances our theoretical understanding of fiscal performance. Among other things, the cases highlight the role of taxpayer consent, tax structure, the welfare state, organization of interests, and labor and financial markets in shaping fiscal outcomes. A necessary resource to understand a broader array of factors that shape fiscal outcomes in specific national contexts, this book will reinvigorate the study of fiscal performance.

Opening the Black Box of Cabinet-Level Politics

Opening the Black Box of Cabinet-Level Politics PDF Author: Sarah Sinram
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643911173
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The book takes a look at social expenditure in affluent democracies in times of fiscal austerity. The study analyzes expenditure changes in nine social policy areas between 1980 - 2010, from an intra-cabinet perspective by considering the partisan affiliation of responsible spending ministers and effects of budgeting reforms. Thus, the analysis contributes to the question of whether parties or institutions matter.

EU Economic Policy at the Dawn of the Century

EU Economic Policy at the Dawn of the Century PDF Author: Patrick M. Crowley
Publisher: Nova Publishers
ISBN: 9781600219474
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
The European Union (EU) has undergone remarkable change in the last century, from frequent conflicts in the first part of the last century, to peace, stability and unprecedented prosperity in the second half. As we move into the first half of the twenty-first century, there is also a sense that a fragile economic renaissance is underway in the EU, but one that is fraught with challenges and difficulties. Contrary to many of the vociferous critics of the single currency project (mostly US economists and some UK politicians, most notably Thatcher (2002), to date the project has met with remarkable success, despite the dramatic fall in the euro from its launch date and the strains imposed on EU economies following the recent downturn in the world economy. EU Enlargement has now been successfully completed, and although there have been painful discussions on EU institutional reform to accommodate the expansion, a breakdown in the 2005 budget negotiations and an controversy over the implementation of the Stability and Growth pact, it is likely that this will not impede the addition of new Member States from the east.

Domestic Budgets in a United Europe

Domestic Budgets in a United Europe PDF Author: Mark Hallerberg
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801442711
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Under European Monetary Union, member states lose the ability to steer their economies by manipulating monetary policy. Domestic Budgets in a United Europe, which explains the content, evolution, and effectiveness of fiscal institutions, will be the definitive account of European budget reform in the late twentieth century.Mark Hallerberg examines the making of budgets in EU countries from 1973 to 2000 and explores why those countries introduced fiscal rules when they did. In 1993, when the fiscal-policy criteria for monetary union were first announced, only Luxembourg and the Republic of Ireland would have qualified. In 1997, only Greece failed. Various explanations have been advanced for this rapid turnaround, including luck (a favorable economic climate reduced pressures on local budgets), accounting tricks, and the increasing pressures caused by international capital mobility. Underlying these various explanations is a basic skepticism about whether countries in the European Union actively worked to reform their national budgeting procedures. In rich case studies, Hallerberg shows that the member-states did indeed reform their budget institutions. Many of them, he finds, had started that process long before the formal signing of the Maastricht Treaty of 1991, making domestic changes that allowed them to qualify individually under EMU criteria.

Regional Comparisons in Comparative Policy Analysis Studies

Regional Comparisons in Comparative Policy Analysis Studies PDF Author: Iris Geva-May
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 0429806736
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 521

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Book Description
Volume Three of the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis, contains chapters concerned with "Regional Comparisons and Policy Analysis" – one of the most prevailing approaches in comparative public policy. Through the prism of inter-jurisdiction comparisons of similarities and variations, they address comparisons in specific policy sectors, governance or institutional constructs, and political regimes. The foci are, nevertheless, on those comparisons between countries or regions, which help to lesson-draw by identifying and understanding the variation in policy analysis and policy making that exists within or across regions. One benefit of regional comparisons is that it often allows studies to hold constant many variables, ranging from colonial legacy to federal systems, or from language to specific traditions, and more effectively isolate dependent variables. Regional organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or European Union are also considered as catalysts for regional policy approaches and harmonization, and occupy a major role in this volume. The chapters address a broad and diverse number of countries and geographical areas: Latin America, North America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, the Baltic states, the Nordic states, Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Europe as a whole. "Regional Comparisons and Policy Analysis" will be of great interest to scholars and learners of public policy and social sciences, as well as to practitioners considering what can be learned or facilitated through methodologically and theoretically sound approaches. The chapters were originally published as articles in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis which in the last two decades has pioneered the development of comparative public policy. The volume is part of a four-volume series, the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis including Theories and Methods, Institutions and Governance, Regional Comparisons, and Policy Sectors. Each volume showcases a different new chapter comparing domains of study interrelated with comparative public policy: political science, public administration, governance and policy design, authored by the JCPA co-editors Giliberto Capano, Iris Geva-May, Michael Howlett, Leslie A. Pal and B. Guy Peters.

Fiscal Institutions and Fiscal Performance

Fiscal Institutions and Fiscal Performance PDF Author: James M. Poterba
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226676307
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
The unprecedented rise and persistence of large-scale budget deficits in many developed and developing nations during the past three decades has caused great concern. The widespread presence of such deficits has proved difficult to explain. Their emergence in otherwise diverse nations defies particularistic explanations aimed at internal economic developments within a specific country. Fiscal Institutions and Fiscal Performance shifts emphasis away from narrow economic factors to more broadly defined political and institutional factors that affect government policy and national debt. This collection brings together new theoretical models, empirical evidence, and a series of in-depth case studies to analyze the effect of political institutions, fiscal regulations, and policy decisions on accumulating deficits. It provides a fascinating overview of the political and economic issues involved and highlights the role of budgetary institutions in the formation of budget deficits.