Good, bad or ugly? On the effects of fiscal rules with creative accounting

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Milesi-Ferretti, GM
• 署名单位: International Monetary Fund; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/S0047-2727(02)00076-2
• 发表日期: 2004
• 页码: 377-394
• 关键词: fiscal rules; budget deficits; creative accounting; TRANSPARENCY

摘要

Do fiscal rules lead to fiscal adjustment, or do they encourage the use of 'creative accounting'? This question is studied with a model in which fiscal rules are imposed on 'measured' fiscal variables, which can differ from 'true' variables because there is a margin for creative accounting. The probability of detecting creative accounting depends on its size and the transparency of the budget. The model studies the effects on fiscal policy of a budget rule, separating structural from cyclical effects, and examines how these effects depend on the underlying fiscal distortion and on the degree of transparency of the budget. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.