What Can We Learn from Governments’ Compliance with Fiscal Rules?

Eckhard Janeba

Fiscal rules constrain governments from running deficits or from accumulating too much debt. In this video, ECKHARD JANEBA considers how we can assess and understand compliance with fiscal rules and, therefore, their broader utility. Focusing on the German “Debt Break” fiscal rule that requires state governments to run balanced budgets from 2020 onwards, Janeba conducted two waves of surveys with relevant policymakers. Providing particular insight into prospects for compliance with this fiscal rule, the work also identifies important attitudinal differences between different groups of policymakers. With fiscal rules becoming more common worldwide, the research helps us to understand how their design might be optimized.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10648

Researcher

Eckhard Janeba is Professor of Public Finance and Economic Policy at the University of Mannheim. After receiving his doctorate from the University of Bonn, he moved to the US and worked at Indiana University Bloomington and at the University of Colorado Boulder. Janeba’s research focuses on public finance, international trade and the effects of globalization on government policy. An associate editor for the journals International Tax and Public Finance and the European Economic Review, Janeba is Chairman (since 2013) of the Independent Advisory Board to the German Stability Council.

University of Mannheim (Universität Mannheim)

For generations, the University of Mannheim has been preparing students to take on leadership roles in business, academia, and society. One of the university’s strengths in this task is its profile, which is characterized by the economic and social sciences. It is in these fields that the University of Mannheim has repeatedly been ranked as one of the top 20 European research institutions. Key focuses of Mannheim researchers include decision-making processes and elections, governance, regulation, competition and innovation, migration and multilingualism, and the culture of change. The campus surrounding Mannheim’s baroque palace is a place where bright minds from across the globe come together to learn, discuss, research, and prepare to make their mark on the world.

What Can We Learn from Governments’ Compliance with Fiscal Rules?

Researcher

Original Publication

Fiscal Rules and Compliance Expectations–Evidence for the German Debt Brake

Friedrich Heinemann

Eckhard Janeba

Christoph Schröder

Frank Streif