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Budget Rules and Fiscal Policy: Ten Lessons from Theory and Evidence

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  • Alan J. Auerbach

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="geer12023-abs-0001"> There has been considerable research and discussion over the years about the potential role of fiscal rules in supporting better economic outcomes; the design, implementation and enforcement, of such rules; and the prospects for alternative fiscal and political institutions to promote the objectives to which fiscal rules are typically targeted. This paper provides an overview of some of the findings that this research and unfolding events have brought forward, organized in the form of ten lessons that can be learned from accumulating theory and evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan J. Auerbach, 2014. "Budget Rules and Fiscal Policy: Ten Lessons from Theory and Evidence," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 15(1), pages 84-99, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:germec:v:15:y:2014:i:1:p:84-99
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    1. Eichengreen, Barry & von Hagen, Jürgen, 1995. "Fiscal Policy and Monetary Union: Federalism, Fiscal Restrictions and the No-Bailout Rule," CEPR Discussion Papers 1247, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Alan J. Auerbach & Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2013. "Corrigendum: Measuring the Output Responses to Fiscal Policy," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 320-322, August.
    3. Alan J. Auerbach, 2008. "Federal Budget Rules: The US Experience," NBER Working Papers 14288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    5. Jordi Gali & Roberto Perotti, 2003. "Fiscal Policy and Monetary Integration in Europe," NBER Working Papers 9773, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Alan J. Auerbach & Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2012. "Fiscal Multipliers in Recession and Expansion," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis, pages 63-98, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Giavazzi, Francesco & Alesina, Alberto & Favero, Carlo A., 2012. "The output effect of fiscal consolidations," CEPR Discussion Papers 9105, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Jeffrey Clemens & Stephen Miran, 2012. "Fiscal Policy Multipliers on Subnational Government Spending," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 46-68, May.
    9. Auerbach, Alan J., 2006. "Budget windows, sunsets, and fiscal control," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-2), pages 87-100, January.
    10. Alan J. Auerbach, 2009. "Long-Term Objectives for Government Debt," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 65(4), pages 472-501, December.
    11. Jordi Galí & Roberto Perotti, 2003. "Fiscal policy and monetary integration in Europe [‘Consumption smoothing through fiscal policy in OECD and EU countries’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 18(37), pages 533-572.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hebous, Shafik & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2015. "Towards a fiscal union? On the acceptability of a fiscal transfer system in the eurozone," SAFE White Paper Series 28, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    2. Adam Pigoń & Michał Ramsza, 2022. "A Comparison of German, Swiss, and Polish Fiscal Rules Using Monte Carlo Simulations," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 4, pages 17-41.
    3. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2018:i:4:p:50000000000863 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jacek LEWKOWICZ & Katarzyna METELSKA-SZANIAWSKA, 2021. "De Jure and De Facto Institutions: Implications for Law and for Economics," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 6, pages 758-776.
    5. KristinaBudimir, 2018. "Debt Crisis in the EU Member States and Fiscal Rules," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(04), pages 53-57, January.
    6. Kristina Budimir, 2017. "Debt Crisis in the EU Member States and Fiscal Rules," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(04), pages 53-57, December.
    7. Pigoń, Adam & Ramsza, Michał, . "Porównanie niemieckiej, szwajcarskiej i polskiej reguły fiskalnej przy użyciu symulacji Monte Carlo," Gospodarka Narodowa-The Polish Journal of Economics, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie / SGH Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 2022(4).
    8. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2017. "The debt brake of the German states: a faulty design?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 257-269, September.

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