Curbing Public Expenditure: Current Trends

Abstract

Nearly every OECD country has faced a scissors crisis in public finance since the worldwide depression of the mid-1970s; in slow growth economies public spending has been rising faster than tax revenues. In response, a great variety of methods have been employed to control public spending. Governments have sought to: impose global ceilings on spending; modify indexation rules; decentralize decremental decisions among government agencies; improve cash flow management; devise balanced packages; introduce new constitutional rules; provide incentives for retrenchment; and privatize public sector activities. Efforts to impose cuts in spending have been directed at the bureaucracy; transfer payments; subsidies; local and regional government; and quangos. The conclusion emphasizes that retrenchment policy presupposes a shift in the balance of power between guardians and spenders.

Government Reorganization: A Theoretical Analysis

“…Given the generally tautological nature of these economic models, it is almost impossible to prove that a bureau chief did not act rationally in a reform-we do not know what sort of damage might have been done without using a rational economic strategy. Unless one is willing to accept a highly convoluted version of the model, these models simply do not appear applicable in decremental times (Tarschys, 1985). Following from that, most economic models of bureaucracy are largely silent about structural change, although structure is a crucial feature of any bureaucracy.…”

Politikbeendigung als policyanalytisches Konzept

“…Demnach war Terminierung nie als rationales Abwägen der Akteure zu erklären, sondern der in einer Beendigungsentscheidung zum Tragen kommende Politikwandel hängt ursächlich mit Veränderungen auf der die jeweilige Politik stützenden Werteebene zusammen. angepasste Fortsetzung (Hogwood/Peters 1982, 1985vgl. Denn die Autoren der ersten Welle hatten es in ihrem Streben, möglichst alle Einflussfaktoren im Terminierungsfeld zusammenzutragen, sträflich vernachlässigt, die gefundenen Variablen auch in eine hierarchische Ordnung zu bringen.…”

“…Hall 1993;Dunsire/Hood 1989;Tarschys 1985;Levine 1978;Gourevitch 1986;Pierson 1994). Hall 1993;Dunsire/Hood 1989;Tarschys 1985;Levine 1978;Gourevitch 1986;Pierson 1994).…”

Budget Procedures and the Size of the Budget: Evidence from Danish Local Government

“…A glance at budgetary developments in Western nations in the past 25^30 years shows that budget institutions^understood as operational rules in Ostrom's sense^have been subject to large-scale changes and reforms (Tarschys 1985;Schick 1986;1988b;1990). However, a clear distinction between political institutions and budget institutions may be di¤cult to establish for empirical analysis at the national level.…”