This paper analyses the relationship between fiscal decentralization and the level of the public debt in the twenty seven member countries of the European Union. Our panel data analysis points to the importance of size as fiscal decentralization reduces public debt in large and small countries, but not in medium - size countries. In addition, our results show that the number of government levels and average size of the lowest government unit is insignificant with respect to the public debt in these countries.
In 1993, Czechoslovakia experienced a two-fold break-up: On January 1, the country disintegrated as a political union, while preserving an economic and monetary union. Then, the Czech-Slovak monetary union collapsed on February 8. We analyze the economic background of the two break-ups, and discuss lessons for the stability of monetary unions in general. We argue that Czechoslovakia fulfilled some of the optimum currency area criteria, however, given the low correlation of permanent shocks, it appears it was relatively less integrated than some other existing unions. That, along with low labor mobility and a higher concentration of heavy and military industries in Slovakia, made the Czechoslovak economy vulnerable to asymmetric economic shocks-such as those induced by the economic transition. Furthermore, the Czech-Slovak monetary union was marred by low credibility, lack of political commitment, low exit costs, and the absence of fiscal transfers.
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