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Fiscal Rules as Bargaining Chips

Author

Listed:
  • Facundo Piguillem

    (Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF))

  • Alessandro Riboni

    (CREST)

Abstract

Most fiscal rules can be overridden by consensus. We show that this does not make them ine ectual. Since fiscal rules determine the outside option in case of disagreement, the opposition uses them as "bargaining chips" to obtain spending concessions. This political bargain reduces the debt accumulation problem. We analyze various rules and show that when political polarization is high, a government shutdown maximizes the opposition's bargaining power and leads to a sizeable debt reduction. When polarization is low, a balanced budget is preferable. Mandatory spending eliminates debt accumulation by removing political risk. However, it generates persistent static ineffciencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Facundo Piguillem & Alessandro Riboni, 2018. "Fiscal Rules as Bargaining Chips," Working Papers 2018-02, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    • Handle: RePEc:crs:wpaper:2018-02
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    Cited by:

    1. Esslinger, Christoph & Boyer, Pierre, 2015. "Public debt and the political economy of reforms," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113107, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Arawatari, Ryo & Ono, Tetsuo, 2021. "Public debt rule breaking by time-inconsistent voters," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Hülya Eraslan & Kirill S. Evdokimov & Jan Zápal, 2022. "Dynamic Legislative Bargaining," Springer Books, in: Emin Karagözoğlu & Kyle B. Hyndman (ed.), Bargaining, chapter 0, pages 151-175, Springer.
    4. Marina Azzimonti & Laura Karpuska & Gabriel Mihalache, 2023. "Bargaining Over Taxes And Entitlements In The Era Of Unequal Growth," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(3), pages 893-941, August.
    5. Niklas Potrafke, 2023. "The Economic Consequences of Fiscal Rules," CESifo Working Paper Series 10765, CESifo.
    6. Ryo Arawatari & Tetsuo Ono, 2023. "International coordination of debt rules with time‐inconsistent voters," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(1), pages 29-60, February.
    7. Uchida, Yuki & Ono, Tetsuo, 2021. "Borrowing to finance public investment: a politico-economic analysis of fiscal rules," MPRA Paper 115844, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 Dec 2022.
    8. Chistoph Grosse-Steffen & Laura Pagenhardt & Malte Rieth, 2021. "Committed to Flexible Fiscal Rules," Working papers 854, Banque de France.
    9. Jocelyne Zoumenou, 2023. "On the impact of fiscal policy on inflation: The case of fiscal rules," EconomiX Working Papers 2023-21, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    10. Zapal, Jan, 2020. "Simple Markovian equilibria in dynamic spatial legislative bargaining," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    11. Marina Azzimonti & Gabriel P. Mihalache & Laura Karpuska, 2020. "Bargaining over Taxes and Entitlements," NBER Working Papers 27595, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Ethan Ilzetzki & Heidi Christina Thysen, 2024. "Fiscal Rules and Market Discipline," Discussion Papers 2409, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    13. Maximilian Kellner, 2023. "Strategic effects of stock pollution: the positive theory of fiscal deficits revisited," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 194(1), pages 157-179, January.
    14. Căpraru, Bogdan & Georgescu, George & Sprincean, Nicu, 2022. "Do independent fiscal institutions cause better fiscal outcomes in the European Union?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(2).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fiscal rules; government debt; legislative bargaining; political polarization; government shutdown; mandatory spending;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H6 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

    NEP fields

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