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Central government control and fiscal adjustment: Norwegian evidence

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  • Arnt Hopland

Abstract

Norwegian local governments that violate the balanced budget rule are placed in a register. The consequence of being in the register is that the budget and resolutions to raise new loans must be approved by the county governor, the central government’s representative in the county. Local governments in the register are subject to stronger central government control and must tighten their budgetary policy in order to be removed from the register. The findings suggest that local governments in the register improve their operating surplus, mainly due to cost reductions. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Arnt Hopland, 2013. "Central government control and fiscal adjustment: Norwegian evidence," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 185-203, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ecogov:v:14:y:2013:i:2:p:185-203
    DOI: 10.1007/s10101-013-0124-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. repec:cuf:journl:y:2017:v:18:i:1:moreno-enguix is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Timothy J. Goodspeed, 2017. "Bailouts and Soft Budget Constraints in Decentralized Government: A Synthesis and Survey of an Alternative View of Intergovernmental Grant Policy," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 221(2), pages 113-134, June.
    4. Maria del Rocio Moreno-Enguix & Ester Gras-Gil & Joaquin Hernandez-Fernandez, 2017. "An Explanation of Management of Local Governments in Spain Based on the Structure of the Internal Control System," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 18(2), pages 393-410, November.
    5. Borge, Lars-Erik & Hopland, Arnt O., 2020. "Less fiscal oversight, more adjustment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Arnt Hopland, 2014. "Voter information and electoral outcomes: the Norwegian list of shame," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 233-255, October.
    7. Baskaran, Thushyanthan, 2014. "Bailouts and austerity," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 212, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    8. Lenka Maličká, 2017. "Determinanty zadĺženosti miestnych samospráv Slovenskej republiky [Determinants of the Municipal Indebtedness in the Slovakia]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(3), pages 301-315.
    9. Ole Henning Nyhus & Bjarne Strøm, 2023. "Young Voters and Budget Deficits," CESifo Working Paper Series 10388, CESifo.
    10. Linda Gonçalves Veiga & Francisco José Veiga, 2014. "Determinants of Portuguese local governments’ indebtedness," NIPE Working Papers 16/2014, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    11. Thushyanthan Baskaran, 2017. "Local fiscal policy after a bailout: austerity or soft budget constraints?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 209-238, August.
    12. Jochimsen, Beate & Raffer, Christian, 2020. "Local Government Fiscal Regulation in the EU: The Impact of Balanced Budget Rules," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224566, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal adjustment; Balanced budget regulations; Fiscal federalism; H71; H72; H74; H77;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H74 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Borrowing
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

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