In an era of rapid and extensive economic reform, what is the appropriate role for fiscal policy? Is there a residual role of government after socialism and dirigisme? Following Macroeconomic Dimensions of Public Finance, this is the second volume of essays in honour of Vito Tanzi. It focuses on the importance of fiscal policy on the wholesale economic reforms that are sweeping the advanced, less developed and formerly communist countries. Issues analysed include: the role of fiscal and budgetary policies in the process of reform; the impact of privatization on the exchequer and the dilemmas for social policy in times of fiscal austerity; the paradox of post-socialism and post-dirigisme that an efficient and harmonic move to a decontrolled, liberal market economy involves active state intervention; and the methodological aspects relating to the proper assessment of selected fiscal policy mechanisms. This collection of essays will contribute to understanding the channels and transmission mechanisms of fiscal policies in the context of major economic reforms.

There is no magic formula for balancing fiscal policy and economic performance. As a scholar and policy advisor, Vito Tanzi has made a major contribution to identifying links between public finance and macro- and microeconomic consequences. His findings bear relevance in both developing and industrialized economies. The essays in this volume and its companion, Fiscal Policy and Economic Reforms, highlight many of these interconnected issues, for instance the interaction between budgetary policy and economic aggregates, such as employment, inflation and growth, and the implication of economic linkages for designing fiscal policies. Further areas of interconnection include expenditure policies and alternative deficit financing strategies, and the trade-offs between macro- and microeconomic objectives. The list of contributors includes Max Corden, John Makin, Ronald McKinnon and Richard Musgrave.

Fiscal risks associated with infrastructure are both more frequent and larger than previously assumed. Off the Books: Understanding and Mitigating the Fiscal Risks of Infrastructure quantifies the magnitude and prevalence of these risks in electricity and transport and identifies their root causes across a range of low- and middle-income countries.

The growing interest in intergovernmental fiscal relations has been in line with a growing world-wide trend towards fiscal decentralization. This book presents a series of essays on the principal theoretical and institutional aspects of intergovernmental fiscal relations.

The question of what makes fiscal decentralization work is faced by many policymakers around the world. This book draws on both the relevant literature and policy and technical advice provided by the IMF to a wide range of member countries, and discusses the key factors that help make decentralization sustainable, efficient, and equitable from a macroeconomic perspective. It focuses on institutional reforms (in the revenue and expenditure assignments to different levels of government, the design of intergovernmental transfers, and public financial management systems) that are suited to different countries' circumstances, and their appropriate sequencing.