scholarly journals The role of independent fiscal councils in improving fiscal performance of the European Union countries

Equilibrium ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-630
Author(s):  
Anna Wildowicz-Giegiel

Research background: Independent fiscal councils are an example of new fiscal institutions, the number of which has rapidly increased around the world, including the EU countries since the global financial crisis of 2008–09. A further deterioration of public finance has provoked many economists to intensify disputes regarding the optimal shape, functions and effectiveness of fiscal councils responsible for promoting sound fiscal policy. Given this, a research focus on independent fiscal councils, active in the public debate in Europe, seems intellectually attractive. Purpose of the article: This article aims to explore the impact of Independent Fiscal Councils on fiscal performance, paying particular attention to their mandate, tasks and institutional models which can strengthen the achievement of fiscal discipline in the EU countries. In connection with this, the question arises about the effectiveness of fiscal councils, especially in the case of institutions that were compulsorily created under the external pressure (at the European level) and found no strong political support in national parliaments. Methods: Descriptive analysis along with panel data analysis were implemented to show the role of fiscal councils in enhancing fiscal discipline in the EU countries in years 2006–17 on the basis of data collected by the European Commission. Findings & Value added: The improvement in fiscal performance and better macroeconomic and budgetary forecasts can be achieved thanks to well-designed fiscal councils supported by appropriate fiscal rules. The conducted analysis confirms that independent fiscal councils are the useful mechanism introducing indirect social control over government revenues and expenditures. This means greater fiscal transparency and lower fiscal illusion between the government and the electorate. Due to the increase in the transparency of public finance, it is possible to reduce the ‘partisan’ deficit bias that contributes to public debt growth. The empirical research extends the existing knowledge on the role of fiscal councils and their impact on fiscal performance.

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-207
Author(s):  
Walentyna Kwiatkowska

The role of the service sector in the economy is increasing in the process of socio-economic development. This tendency has been confirmed and explained by the three-sector theory formulated by A.G.B. Fisher, C. Clark, and J. Fourastie. The main goal of the paper is to show development tendencies in service sectors in Poland and the EU countries and assess them in view of the three-sector theory. The share of the service sector in the total employment and in the total gross value added in the years 2005-2013/2014 will be analysed together with two sub-sectors including market and non-market services. The research shows that the share of the service sector in total employment and total gross value added has been recently increasing in Poland as well as in other EU countries, but there is a gap in this process between Poland and the most developed EU countries. Moreover, in Poland, the role of market services has been recently increasing much faster than the role of non-market services. 


Equilibrium ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-642
Author(s):  
Agata Szymańska

Research background: The latest economic and financial crisis has seriously injured European Union Member States, affecting the condition of their public finances. In the face of the crisis, the EU made a special effort to increase the effectiveness of national fiscal frameworks, e.g. by improving the compliance with legislation. The post 2009 reforms were aimed at providing a solid economic foundation for the national fiscal frameworks, especially in the high-debt euro area countries. Purpose of the article: The goal of this research is twofold. Firstly, it aims to provide an outline of the national fiscal governance in the EU. Secondly, the paper analyzes the changes in the core measures of fiscal governance in the EU between the crisis period and the year 2016 (due to the latest available data) and investigates the similarities in the progress made by the 28 EU countries in restoring balance in public finance. Methods: To achieve the goal, the literature review and the analysis of core elements of national fiscal frameworks are provided. In the empirical section the grouping method for all 28 EU countries based on the Ward's agglomerative hierarchical clustering method is employed. The study uses data derived from the AMECO database (in the case of fiscal data) and the European Commission thematic data for quality indexes of particular elements of fiscal governance (numerical fiscal rules, medium-term budgetary frameworks and independent fiscal institutions). Findings & Value added: This paper contributes to the literature by, on the one hand, attempting to analyze changes in main fiscal governance measures and, on the other hand, by assessing their link with public finance through employment of the agglomerative clustering method. Based on the results, the conclusion about the importance of the improvement in fiscal frameworks is provided. The analysis shows that countries with better national fiscal framework achieved better results in public finances regardless the macroeconomic conditions.


Author(s):  
Lech Kujawski ◽  
Monika Liszewska ◽  
Marta Penczar

In our paper, we analyse the impact of funding structure on banking sector stability in EU countries. Our findings show that after the global financial crisis (GFC) there are four main funding models in the EU banking sectors. We document that funding structure is an important factor influencing the banking sector stability. We report that there are also some other banking business model characteristics as well as macroeconomic indicators which have impact on banking sector risk.


2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 09008
Author(s):  
Yaroslava Kostiuk ◽  
Eva Kalinová ◽  
Jiří Kučera

Research Background: The paper focuses on the specification of categories of the globalization and internationalization process in terms of origin, development, definition and content. Using European Commission statistics for the period 2013-2017, the EU28 countries are divided into countries that started the EU (Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) and countries that joined the EU before 2000 (Denmark, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Austria, Greece, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain), and other countries of the so-called former Eastern bloc (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland). For such defined EU countries, a different level of involvement in the globalizing common economy of the European Union as well as a different level of involvement in foreign markets, depending on the level of national economies, can be expected. Purpose of the Article: A test set of 338,788 companies from across the EU was used to analyse value added associated with each indicator (value added at factor cost, gross (average) value added per person employed, number of workers, enterprise size classes and selected industries, namely manufacturing, construction, engineering, transportation and logistics). The membership of the countries in the European Monetary Union was also taken into account. Methods: Mathematical and statistical methods of correlation analysis and paired T-test were used for value added analysis. Findings & Value Added: The outputs of the analysis indicated a high level of statistical conclusive evidence in terms of the impact of value added on each enterprise size class across the sectors concerned as well as on the structure of production and the number of active workers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 369-376
Author(s):  
Z. Sojková ◽  
B. Stehlíková

The role of agriculture within the frame of the enlarged EU is analysed in this paper. There is a requirement to perceive the tendency towards the downgrading of the status of agriculture in the national economy of the EU countries with the respect of the differences in the importance of agriculture mainly in the countries that are the new EU members. The role of agriculture is characterised by the following indices: share of the agricultural employees in the total employment, share of the added value of  agriculture in the GDP, and index of the value added per one agricultural worker. These indices are the base for the construction of the “index of economic importance of the agriculture” which are the countries ranged by. A multidimensional classification of the countries was realised by the cluster analysis that divided the countries into three clusters accordingly to their similarity with regards to the importance of their agriculture in their national economy.


Author(s):  
Marina Đorđević ◽  
Jadranka Đurović Todorović ◽  
Milica Ristić

Indirect taxes have a significant place in developing EU countries’ tax systems. The article sums up scholars of different scientists, dealing with the impact of VAT efficiency determinants. The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of VAT collection efficiency in the EU developing countries. The study relies on relevant data in transparent international statistical databases, covering the period from 1997 to 2017. The main research question in this paper is: does rise in value added tax rate negatively affect VAT collection efficiency in the EU developing countries. Accordingly, one of the independent variables included in the survey is standard annual VAT rate. In addition to standard VAT rate, as a determinant of VAT collection efficiency, we analyze: economic growth rate, export of goods, export of services, wages and salaries, household consumption. The hypotheses set are analyzed using correlation and regression analyses. Empirical results show a positive effect of economic growth rate, export of goods, and the negative effect of two variables: standard VAT rate and household consumption. The two observed variables, export of services and wages and salaries, do not show a statistically significant effect. The results obtained using appropriate statistical tools serve as guidelines to macroeconomic policy makers to generate higher tax revenues from VAT. By analyzing the C-efficiency determinant, we design a relevant development strategy approach for economically underdeveloped EU countries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (01-02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Ur Rehman ◽  
Yasir Arafat Elahi ◽  
Sushma .

India has recently emerged as a major political and economic power in the world. The financial crisis that engulfed the world in 2008 needed developing countries like India to lead the rescue and recovery, instead of G7 westerns countries who dealt with such crisis in the past. Recently, discussions and negotiations are going amongst G20 countries regarding a new global financial architecture (G-20 Summit, 2008). The outcome will affect the relevant industries in India and hence it is a public interest issue for the actuarial profession in the country. Increased and more intrusive and costly regulations and red tapes are likely to be a part of the new deal (Economic Survey 2009-10). The objective of this paper is to study the perception of higher level authorities in Insurance sector regarding the role of regulator in minimizing the impact of global financial crisis. The primary data has been collected from 200 authorities in insurance industry. The data has been analyzed with statistical tools like MS-Excel. On the basis of the findings, various measures and policy recommendations for insurers have been suggested to minimize the impact of crisis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramona Pîrvu ◽  
Cristian Drăgan ◽  
Gheorghe Axinte ◽  
Sorin Dinulescu ◽  
Mihaela Lupăncescu ◽  
...  

The impact of implementation of cohesion policy on the sustainable development of EU countries is of great interest and presents a number of actual challenges. This research aims to evaluate the impact and the effects of the cohesion policy among the Member States using hierarchical clustering analysis in order to identify how the selected variables affect the sustainable development adopted models. The variables used in the analysis were selected on the basis of official data provided by the European Commission, SDG Index and Dashboards Reports and the EU Cohesion Monitor. The results of the research have led to the grouping of the 28 Member States in a number of six clusters, identifying performers but also those countries that have a high potential for sustainable development or which require increased attention to be sustained in recovering existing gaps. The results of the study can be a starting point for policy makers and other stakeholders involved in their efforts to support sustainable development through effective and effective policies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Наталия Александровна Иванова

Актуальность исследования для экономики усиливается такими явлениями, как влияние мирового финансового кризиса, усложнение отраслевой и территориальной структуры производства, усиление интеграции всех сфер общественной жизни, возрастание значения экологических, социальных и политических факторов развития общества, повышение трансакционных издержек принятия решений в сфере управления. Изучение литературы о территориях дает основание определить понятие региональной системы России как элемент, подсистему некоторой иерархической системы, в роли которой выступает национальная экономика. Процессы глобализации коренным образом изменяют роль регионов в национальной экономике. Регион постепенно становится не только отдельным экономическим агентом, но также вступает в мировые конкурентные процессы. Положение территориально-организованных систем оказывается зависимым не только от макроэкономических условий или возможностей самих регионов, но также от расстановки конкурентных сил, механизмов взаимодействия регионов с другими субъектами. В этой связи возникает необходимость системных исследований с целью выработки комплекса мер, которые будут способствовать повышению конкурентоспособности экономики в целом, ее регионов в частности. Существующий инструментарий региональной экономики является уже недостаточным для анализа такого рода проблем, а традиционный конкурентный анализ не рассматривает регионы в качестве субъектов конкуренции. Требуется расширение и применение новых теоретических подходов к анализу региональных экономических систем и эффективности их развития, формированию целостной концепции развития территориальной организации хозяйства, что обусловило актуальность данного исследования. The relevance of the study for the economy is enhanced by such phenomena as the impact of the global financial crisis, the complication of the sectoral and territorial structure of production, the strengthening of integration of all spheres of public life, the increasing importance of environmental, social and political factors in the development of society, the increase in transaction costs of decision-making in the field of management. The study of the literature on territories gives grounds to define the concept of the regional system of Russia as an element, a subsystem of some hierarchical system, in the role of which the national economy acts. The processes of globalization are fundamentally changing the role of regions in the national economy. The region is gradually becoming not only a separate economic agent, but also enters into global competitive processes. The position of geographically organized systems turns out to depend not only on the macroeconomic conditions or the capabilities of the regions themselves, but also on the alignment of competitive forces, the mechanisms of interaction of regions with other entities. In this regard, there is a need for systematic research in order to develop a set of measures that will contribute to improving the competitiveness of the economy as a whole, its regions in particular. The existing tools of the regional economy are no longer sufficient to analyze such problems, and traditional competitive analysis does not consider regions as subjects of competition. It requires the expansion and application of new theoretical approaches to the analysis of regional economic systems and the effectiveness of their development, the formation of an integral concept of the development of the territorial organization of the economy, which determined the relevance of this study.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rehana Naheed ◽  
Bushra Sarwar ◽  
Rukhsana Naheed

Purpose Many scholars have developed several theories and empirics to study issues related to investment policy. However, there are still some unexplored issues in the field of finance that require further analysis and investigation, particularly in the corporate governance literature such as the role of managerial talent in the firms. This study investigated the impact of managerial ability on investment decisions of the firms. Design/methodology/approach The study first uses firm efficiency and managerial ability by using data envelope analysis (DEA) proposed by Demerjian, Lev and McVay, 2012. Data is collected for the firms listed in Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchange for an emerging market of China during the crisis period with 1,640 number of observations. Findings The study reveals that the presence of more managerial talent in a firm is significant for the strategic decisions of the firms. Findings follow a resource-based view and identify that more talented managers help the firms in the acquisition of resources specifically during financial distress. The study subdivides the firms based on: ownership structures and financial constraints. Results generated from propensity score matching imply that the role of high-talented managers is significantly different from that of low-talented managers. Originality/value The study reveals managerial ability as a determinant of investment policy. To the researchers’ best knowledge, none of the previous studies have been conducted in emerging market literature during the crisis period.


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