Ricardian fiscal regimes in the European Union

The prevalence of either Ricardian or non-Ricardian fiscal regimes is important both for practical policy reasons and to assess fiscal sustainability, and this is of particular relevance for European Union countries. The purpose of this paper is to assess, with a panel data set, the empirical eviden...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor principal: Afonso, António (author)
Formato: workingPaper
Idioma:eng
Publicado em: 2010
Assuntos:
Texto completo:http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/2686
País:Portugal
Oai:oai:www.repository.utl.pt:10400.5/2686
Descrição
Resumo:The prevalence of either Ricardian or non-Ricardian fiscal regimes is important both for practical policy reasons and to assess fiscal sustainability, and this is of particular relevance for European Union countries. The purpose of this paper is to assess, with a panel data set, the empirical evidence concerning the existence of Ricardian fiscal regimes in EU-15 countries. The results give support to the Ricardian fiscal regime hypothesis throughout the sample period, and for sub-samples accounting for the dates of the Maastricht Treaty and for the setting-up of the Stability and Growth Pact. Additionally, electoral budget cycles also seem to play a role in fiscal behaviour.