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Environment policies have evolved over the years around the world, in part due to growing awareness among the population of the challenges posed by climate change. The decentralization of policymaking, administrative and political responsibilities to the subnational levels of administration may also have played a part to the extent that it creates room for bottom-up policy experimentation and citizen participation in policy design, including in areas related to the environment, that may influence people's preferences and attitudes and ultimately government policy. To shed light on these linkages, this paper provides cross-country empirical evidence based on national accounts data that decentralization is associated with higher government spending on environment-related programmes, as well as higher collection of environmental taxes in the advanced economies, controlling for conventional public finance covariates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is pivotal in the global effort to reduce inequalities. Through education, there are numerous opportunities to advance gender+ equality both within and outside of educational institutions. Gender budgeting, a strategy designed to align policies, plans and financial decisions with gender equality commitments, was used in this research to develop approaches through primary education. Research was conducted in collaboration with the biggest municipality in Iceland and three schools during the years 2019 and 2020, employing multiple data collection methods, including the review of policymaking documents and semi‐structured interviews. Through qualitative content and thematic analysis, the research identified several opportunities to foster equality through primary education, categorised into four key themes: policymaking, curriculum, student participation and school–family relations. It is recommended that policy‐based gender budgeting is implemented to prioritise actions that advance equality, social justice and equity within educational systems and broader society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of compensation spending reviews on government policy by analysing the case of South Africa, focusing on an extended review of the drivers of payroll costs. It addresses the decision by the government to renege on a wage agreement with public sector unions and the subsequent backlash from labour unions, and explains how spending reviews contributed to this. The paper outlines the methodology used for the analysis and summarises the key findings of the compensation spending reviews conducted between 2017 and 2020. It also discusses the implications of the decision and subsequent developments for compensation spending in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability and security of public finances is a challenge not only for Slovakia and the countries of the European Union, but also for economies at the global level. Sound public finances are a prerequisite for the efficient functioning of the state, ensuring the fulfilment of its tasks at all levels. In addition to ensuring the efficient management of state budget expenditures, the lack of funds for the running of the state can also be addressed by improving tax collection through the elimination of tax evasion and tax fraud. The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the state and development of public finances in relation to economic crime and tax fraud at the level of the Slovak Republic. The control activity in the framework of the fight against tax fraud requires a conceptual approach of all involved state components and the adoption of systemic measures and instruments to eliminate the damage caused in the effort to stabilise public finances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the sustainability of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia from a fiscal and territorial perspective. The importance of collaboration between the nation and local entities for the management, protection, and sustainability of this heritage recognized by UNESCO in 2011 is highlighted. It is concluded that there are fiscal weaknesses that limit the capacity for self-management and the development of landscape protection and conservation programs. Additionally, the dependence of municipalities on national transfers and royalties is mentioned, reflecting a structural flaw in decentralization and limited capacity for generating their own resources. [Extracted from the article]

Motivation: Decentralization is one of the main challenges in public sector reform. In democratic countries the level of decentralisation in individual countries is not identical. The varying scope of decentralization affects the quality, quick and efficient decision-making by public leaders. Aim: Comparison of the extent of fiscal decentralisation in EU Member States; creation of groups of states with similar levels of decentralisation; identification of characteristics of countries where the average level of decentralisation is similar. Results: As a result of the study 4 clusters were created. The first includes centralized countries (small area, small population, e.g. Malta, Cyprus). The level of decentralization is a little bit higher in federal states and most of the countries that joined the EU in 2004 or later (cluster 2, the most numerous). Larger and more numerous countries are characterized by a higher level of decentralization (cluster 3, e.g. Italy, Poland, France). Clusters 4th is composed of the Nordic countries, i.e. in countries where a welfare state model with an extensive public sector has been implemented. As a result, it was found that the level of decentralization is related to the size of the country, population and political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economy & Market Communication Review / Casopis za Ekonomiju i Trzisne Komunikacije is the property of Pan-European University Apeiron and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Financing is the property of Financing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This article aims to analyze pioneering public finance initiatives based on blockchain technology, identifying the Brazilian context amid the international. Additionally, this study seeks to present opportunities for blockchain technology applications and the challenges encountered for their expansion. Originality/value: Few studies have covered the public sector, especially public finance, despite using and testing this technology in different areas. The development of these innovative applications is limited, particularly in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach: Public documents, such as reports and official websites of public agencies, associations, and institutions, were identified and selected from the unit of analysis "pioneering public finance initiatives based on blockchain technology." Findings: Blockchain technology has been used in government projects related to research, identity, economic development, and financial services, among others. Blockchain initiatives have been led by Brazil's financial, technology, and education/media sectors. Finding technology applications in public finance was one of the difficulties in the research. The number of projects in this category involving blockchain and the public sector is scarce in Brazil and internationally. However, this scenario has shown signs of change. Although reduced, public sector participation has increased in recent years. Blockchain has much to offer the public finance sector, but governments have been cautious and insecure about introducing the technology. It happens because of uncertainty about whether the technology is developed enough to withstand critical problems in the public system or what unique issues could arise from that technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Optimum. Economic Studies is the property of University of Bialystok and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Business Administration Quarterly / Kwartalnik Nauk o Przedsiebiorstwie is the property of SGH Warsaw School of Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A separate Alberta Pension Plan (APP) has recently gained renewed attention. In this paper, I assess the long-run viability of such a plan by using both a detailed quantitative model and simple, intuitive approaches. I find only modest scope for changes in benefit levels and contribution rates relative to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Specifically, I estimate an APP minimum contribution rate of 8.2 percent, compared to the base CPP's 9.5 percent. With the same 0.4 percentage point cushion as in the CPP, the APP legislated contribution rate would then be 8.6 percent. This figure is in sharp contrast to a recent government-commissioned report (LifeWorks 2023), which found a contribution rate of 5.9 percent. I explain this disparity and show that much depends on how one interprets imprecise language in the Canada Pension Plan Act. I also explore several relevant risks. Alberta's positive net migration flows, for example, account for nearly two-thirds of its pension advantage. And, depending on the time horizon, investment risks may eliminate its entire advantage. Overall, this paper provides an updated foundation not only to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of an APP but also to understand pension sustainability more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of External Economic Bulletin / Külgazdaság is the property of KOPINT Konjunktura Kutatasi Alapitvany and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses the idea of the functioning of an independent fiscal institution (IFI) in Poland according to the EU's requirements. The first section provides an overall description of the institution. Section 2 provides theoretical insights into possible institutional models of IFIs which are established in the EU: the purpose is to discern what lessons can be learnt from IFI models in other EU countries. Section 3 discusses the legal basis of and standards in this area of public-sector control; section 4 addresses how that adoption would look in Poland. The objective of the article is to determine what the challenges in the Polish state fiscal policy are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to assign value to intangible effects, including social impacts, which appear when organising sporting events of various scales in the city of Gdansk located in northern Poland. A survey was conducted to determine the city residents' willingness-to-pay (WTP) using the contingent valuation method (CVM). The average WTP values, which ranged between PLN 6.04 and PLN 46.34, show that the scale of the sporting event may be important for the local community's perception of such social impacts as well-being and urban regeneration. However, considering the costs of organising sporting events – including the preparation of sporting facilities – it turns out that it is easier to justify spending public funds for holding smaller events, among others, due to the possibility of organising such events in the same place more frequently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of FiFo Berichte is the property of University of Cologne, FiFo Institute for Public Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The sustainability of resource use and the management of public finances are both long‐run issues that are linked to each other through savings decisions. To study them conjointly, this paper introduces a public debt stabilization constraint in an overlapping generation model in which nonrenewable resources constitute a necessary input in the production function and belong to agents. It shows that stabilization of public debt at a high level (as share of capital) may prevent the existence of a sustainable development path, that is, a path on which per capita consumption is not decreasing. Public debt thus appears as a threat to sustainable development. It also shows that higher public debt‐to‐capital ratios (and public expenditures‐to‐capital ones) are associated with lower growth. Two transmission channels are identified. As usual, public debt crowds out capital accumulation. In addition, public debt tends to increase resource use which reduces the rate of growth. We also provide a numerical analysis of the dynamics that shows that the economy is characterized by saddle path stability. Finally, we show that the public debt‐to‐capital ratio may be calibrated to implement the social planner optimal allocation according to which the growth rate is increasing in the degree of patience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Identify the explanatory factors of the financial condition of small municipalities in Minas Gerais. Methodology: From the perspective of the Theory of Financial Condition, the research was carried out in two stages: first, the financial condition of the municipalities was calculated using Brown's (1993) model; next, the financial variables capable of influencing the financial condition of the municipalities in the sample were identified. To do this, accounting information was collected in the period 2017-2020, from 229 municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais that had a population of less than 5 thousand inhabitants in 2020. An econometric model with panel data was used for the analysis of the relations. Results: The variables Personnel Expenditure (GP) and Degree of Indebtedness (GE) were significant at a 1% level, with GP being positively related and GE negatively related to the government's financial condition. Therefore, the results prove the existence of financial factors related to budget solvency and long-term solvency that affect the financial condition of small municipalities. Contributions of the Study: The research contributes to the literature on the explanatory factors of the financial condition by analyzing small municipalities, using a model consolidated in the international literature, especially amid the discussion of PEC 188/2019, on the merger of these municipalities. In addition, it can help public managers in decision-making, by pointing out the explanatory factors that explain the municipality's financial condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Identify the explanatory factors of the financial condition of small municipalities in Minas Gerais. Methodology: From the perspective of the Theory of Financial Condition, the research was carried out in two stages: first, the financial condition of the municipalities was calculated using Brown's (1993) model; Next, the financial variables capable of influencing the financial condition of the municipalities in the sample were identified. For this, accounting information was collected in the period from 2017 to 2020 from 229 municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais that had a population of less than 5 thousand inhabitants in the year 2020. An econometric model with panel data was used for analysis of the relations. Results: The variables Personnel Expenditure (GP) and Degree of Indebtedness (GE) were events at a significance level of 1%, with GP being positively related and GE negatively related to the government's financial condition. So, the results prove the existence of financial factors related to budget solvency and long-term solvency that impact the financial condition of small municipalities. Contributions of the Study: The research contributes to the literature on the explanatory factors of the financial condition by analyzing small municipalities, using a consolidated model in the international literature, especially amid the discussion of PEC 188/2019 on the merger of these municipalities. In addition, it can help public managers in decision-making by pointing out the explanatory factors that occurred for the municipal financial condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal Public Administration & Social Management / Administração Pública e Gestão Social is the property of Administracao Publica e Gestao Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives Public financial management is of the most global and complex nature. At this level, decisions are made that determine everything related to the collection and spending of public funds. However, we must be aware that at this level there are the greatest political entanglements, which are subject to transformation and are inextricably accompanied by changes in government teams and cooperating party coalitions. This causes general recommendations to be formulated on how to manage public funds. Discussions are held in the government or parliament forum focused on finding ways to reduce expenses. Another direction of political debates leads to a turn towards public revenues. This is expressed, for example, by striving to reduce the tax burden. The attention is therefore focused on two sides of the financial economy, i.e. on the processes of collecting and spending public funds. Material and methods Induction was used as the main research method. It involves drawing general conclusions or establishing regularities based on the analysis of empirically identified phenomena and processes. Results Maintaining the stability of public finances may turn out to be one of the greatest challenges of Polish economic policy in the next few years. Conclusions The rate of fiscalism in Poland is lower than the average in the EU. Public revenues in Poland are characterized by a high share of social security contributions. The ratio of tax and contribution income to the potential tax base in Poland is relatively low in the case of consumption and comparable to other EU countries in the case of work. Between 2004 and 2014, the share of spending on social transfers in GDP in Poland decreased by 1.8 points. percent. which was the largest decline among all EU countries.

Abstrakt Housing policy aspiring to have a general social impact, subtracting from the scale of the state, like any other policy in this scope, is conducted in the European Union countries by the public sector. This sector remains a significant point of reference for this policy. The activity of the public sector in the countries of post-war Western Europe varies in intensity over time and is carried out at different spatial levels - also in relation to housing. The public sector has been subject to a tendency towards apparent self-limitation for at least the last four decades. This occurs mainly by reducing the importance of the state and its agencies in socio-economic development. Housing policy is one of the important sectoral policies of the state - including the government and local authorities - engaging public entities, political and social organizations and private entities to achieve the main and long-term goals in the area of housing, which are: creating conditions for purchasing or renting apartments by all citizens; ensuring the availability of the housing stock, i.e. implementing an appropriate scale of housing investments using primarily the market mechanism, and supporting the appropriate quality of the housing stock throughout the entire period of use of the property.

It has been proven that the legality and sufficiency of the state’s financial activities for the social protection of military personnel in modern conditions in Ukraine depends on financial and legal regulation in the field of social policy. It has been noted that financial and legal protection, as an activity of the state for financial provision of social protection of military personnel, is based on the budget law, expenditures, which require coordination of the budgetary powers of the legislator and the Government on the formation and distribution of financial resources at the planning stage, as well as development and approval of the main financial law. The dependence of the financial state of the social protection of servicemen on the state financing of the directions and types of social policy of the state in the sphere of defense which requires legal regulation of the sources of financing of social payments of servicemen has been argued, as well as the distribution of the amounts of allocated funds and clarification of the powers of the involved subjects, in particular the legislator, the Government and managers budget funds. It has been determined that in order to improve the financial and legal foundations of social protection of servicemen, it is advisable to ensure two conditions: firstly, the introduction of a budget classification code of types of special social payments to servicemen in the expenditures of the State Budget of Ukraine, and secondly, compliance with the targeting of benefits, guarantees, compensations and other social payments, which are defined by the current legislation for military personnel and their family members. It has been substantiated that the justice and legality of meeting the interests of military personnel, as well as of all citizens related to social protection, are based on financial and legal principles.

Colonial administrations introduced various social infrastructures in Africa. This paper analyses and compares the development of colonial governments' health care provision and policies in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire from circa 1900 to 1955. Using qualitative and quantitative information from colonial reports, a new dataset captures the development of four factors relevant to these aims: health care expenditures, health care facilities, medical staff, and patients. Deflated health care expenditures per capita were found to be higher in Ghana than in Côte d'Ivoire in almost all years. The number of health care facilities per capita was larger in Côte d'Ivoire than in Ghana, and facilities were more geographically dispersed. Ghana had a lower number of medical staff per capita than Côte d'Ivoire as of the 1920s. Medical staff from Côte d'Ivoire formed the majority of the staff base as early as the mid-1910s. Finally, the analysis shows that the number of patients treated in health care facilities in Ghana was low until the 1920s, and took off as more facilities became available during the 1940s. These findings provide evidence that even two countries that are relatively similar (apart from their colonial history) can have different colonial health care trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The pandemic of Covid-19 virus between 2020 and 2021, brought about limitations in proper functioning of economies not seen until that moment. These constraints were accompanied by a radical increase in public spending that was supposed to be financing measures shielding various industries and sectors, which were forced to put their activity on pause. The purpose of this article is to thoroughly analyze the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the stability of public finance in the face of increasing government spending as well as multiple pro-inflationary factors. Design/methodology/approach: Sound public finance is one of the most crucial challenges for the economic policy system of every country no matter the level of the liberalization of their economies. This stability is commonly regarded as the indicator of a country's financial credibility which directly affects the capital markets. It translates into confidence or lack thereof in financial securities. Fading public trust in the economy of a country calls for raising interest rates which consequently increases the cost of public debt management. The methodology used in the publication is based on the analysis statistical sources and literature reports relating to the stability of public finances of UE countries during the pandemic of Covid-19. Findings: Undoubtedly, the most important cognitive values included in the paper are the problem of the resilience of national public finances to external shocks and their ability to stabilise them in the long term. Practical implications, originality and value: There is no doubt that the last few years have brought some of the greatest challenges in the history of the modern world economy, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Both of these factors have caused lasting damage to public finances and require new, creative measures to ensure stability and national security. These topics are undoubtedly very important from an economic and scientific point of view and should be the subject of further in-depth research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Portuguese First Republic (1910–1926) was marked by significant instability at the most diverse levels. With a special focus on the financial dimension of this period, the objective of this paper is to test the sustainability of the Portuguese fiscal policy, also referred to as the sustainability of public finances itself. The methodology involves testing the stationarity of public debt and budget balance and also the cointegration between state revenue and expenditure. The results obtained shows that the state's intertemporal budgetary constraint was violated during the First Republic regime, which denotes unsustainability. This conclusion is justified by the existence of a non-stationary budget balance and the absence of cointegration between state revenue and expenditure. These results are manifestly different from those that have already been obtained for other Portuguese regimes, namely for the Estado Novo (1933–1974) and democracy (1974–present), where sustainability existed. This paper is yet another demonstration of how important it is to maintain control of state's accounts. We hope that this paper can be useful to stimulate new research on Portuguese public finances and also on the important issue of fiscal policy sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with financial law institutions from the space of public tributes. The author subjects the institutions of social security contribution, tax and fee to a legal analysis. He also examines the views of representatives of the doctrine of financial law by making a dogmatic analysis concerning these three types of tributes. It presents the various forms of their application, with the aim of understanding their nature in connection with the broader institutions of public law in which they are applied, being a way of raising the funds necessary for their proper functioning and fulfillment of their role. The goal is to determine whether they are substitutable in the proper performance of a public function, or alternatively whether they can have a form that is altered from that accepted in the doctrine, and whether this will also determine the nature of the larger institution of which they are an element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic priorities of the management of state finances dur ing the war reflect the processes of reconstruction of Ukraine in such areas as the modernization of physical infrastructure in industries; actualization of the infrastructure of social rehabilitation of war victims; restoration of the infrastructure of social institutions; restoration and reconstruction of housing stock; reconstruction, modernization and reform of educational and health care institutions; restoration and modernization of industries based on ESG principles; reconstruction of damaged agricultural facilities; trend building of industrial potential, in particular military industry. The formation of modern priorities of public finance management can be studied from various scientific approaches, including management, philosophy, law, economics, mathematics, sociology and other areas. The purpose of the article is to analyze the theoretical and applied aspects of modern strategic priorities of public finance management in the context of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine on the basis of modern trends in the manufacturing industry and ESG principles. Research objectives: 1) to analyze the strategic directions of financing State Budget expenditures in 2024; 2) identify the main elements of the transformation of the social protection system in the war and post-war periods; 3) evaluate the domestic and analyze the foreign experience of rebuilding the infrastructure, branches of industry and military industry; 4) analyze the reform vector of education and health care. Managers can form new conceptual approaches to the reconstruction of Ukraine, exploring not only the managerial aspect, but also the philosophical, legal, economic, and financial aspects. Management and administration in these directions ensures the complexity of approaches to reconstruction processes and the ability to form sound strategies for the innovative development of Ukraine. This topic creates an opportunity for the development of interdisciplinary research that combines the scientific areas of finance, economics, management, public administration, philosophy and sociology to The strategic priorities of the management of state finances dur ing the war reflect the processes of reconstruction of Ukraine in such areas as the modernization of physical infrastructure in industries; actualization of the infrastructure of social rehabilitation of war victims; restoration of the infrastructure of social institutions; restoration and reconstruction of housing stock; reconstruction, modernization and reform of educational and health care institutions; restoration and modernization of industries based on ESG principles; reconstruction of damaged agricultural facilities; trend building of industrial potential, in particular military industry. The formation of modern priorities of public finance management can be studied from various scientific approaches, including management, philosophy, law, economics, mathematics, sociology and other areas. The purpose of the article is to analyze the theoretical and applied aspects of modern strategic priorities of public finance management in the context of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine on the basis of modern trends in the manufacturing industry and ESG principles. Research objectives: 1) to analyze the strategic directions of financing State Budget expenditures in 2024; 2) identify the main elements of the transformation of the social protection system in the war and post-war periods; 3) evaluate the domestic and analyze the foreign experience of rebuilding the infrastructure, branches of industry and military industry; 4) analyze the reform vector of education and health care. Managers can form new conceptual approaches to the reconstruction of Ukraine, exploring not only the managerial aspect, but also the philosophical, legal, economic, and financial aspects. Management and administration in these directions ensures the complexity of approaches to reconstruction processes and the ability to form sound strategies for the innovative development of Ukraine. This topic creates an opportunity for the development of interdisciplinary research that combines the scientific areas of finance, economics, management, public administration, philosophy and sociology to modernize approaches to strategizing, contributing to the creation of a theoretical basis for solving global problems of the world's transformational economy and measuring their impact on modern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discusses the issues of the legal status of administrative fines. The authors deemed it desirable to apply various investigation methods in this area of research, such as a review and analysis of the established line of judicial decisions (legislative acts, court decisions, official documents) and a comparative analysis. For this reason, the second part of the study discusses the issues in question (synthetically) while taking into consideration the French, German and Danish legal orders. The majority of the research was also devoted to an analysis of the legal status of the Bank Guarantee Fund (hereinafter: BGF or Fund) and to a discussion of types of administrative fines imposed by the Fund. An analysis and review of the law in force was used as a primary tool in this research area. The underlying goal of this research was to establish the legal status of administrative fines imposed by the BGF and their types, assuming that these penalties mainly play a preventive and repressive function. These issues have a practical and theoretical importance, since they may be used at the stage of law-giving and law-application, and also in scholarly investigations. The study takes into account the legal status as of 23 April 2023.

We study the economic impact of private equity (PE) investments on local governments, which are important corporate stakeholders. Examining over 11,000 deals and private firm data in Europe, we document that target firms' effective tax rates and total tax expenses decrease by 15% and 13% after PE deals. At the same time, target firms expand their capital expenditures and firm boundaries, but do not increase employment. Using administrative data on the public finances of German municipalities and exploiting the geographical and time‐series variation in PE deals, we document that PE activity is negatively associated with local governments' tax revenues and spending. This result is likely driven by reduced tax payments of PE portfolio firms, accompanied by only modest positive spillovers of PE investments on regional economic growth. Collectively, our findings suggest that corporate tax efficiency serves as a cost‐cutting channel in the PE sector and constrains the finances of local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide a retrospective assessment of Ukraine's state policy concerning state-owned banks and evaluate their impact on the sustainability of Ukraine's public finances. The research methodology employs an empirical study of the cash flow of public funds to state-owned banks and the reverse cash flow to determine the impact of the activity and stability of public finances. The cash flow to state-owned banks includes the expenditure of public funds for the creation of authorised capital during the establishment of state-owned banks, the acquisition of shares in operating commercial banks, additional capitalisation of state-owned banks, etc. The reverse cash flow comprises dividends paid based on the performance of state-owned banks, as well as revenue generated for public funds through the sale of shares (privatisation) of state-owned banks. This study highlights the costs associated with recapitalising state-owned banks. These costs disrupt the stability of public finances, create additional debt dependency for Ukraine, impose an additional burden on public finances, and lead to structural changes that reduce funding for social spending. As a result, Ukrainian taxpayers are financing the inefficient activities of state-owned banks while experiencing reduced investments in education, healthcare, social protection, environmental protection, and other essential areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego is a Polish development bank - the only such institution in Poland. Its mission is to support the sustainable socio-economic development of Poland. The subject of activity of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego is the implementation of tasks related to the management of government and EU funds and programs created, entrusted or transferred to BGK on the basis of laws or concluded agreements. These are in particular tasks related to the operation of over 30 funds and programs, such as the National Road Fund or the COVID-19 Prevention Fund. The activities of the funds of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego affect the basic elements of public finance in Poland, e.g. the principle of openness, transparency, detail, unity or transparency. This impact is assessed rather negatively. The above does not change the fact that the funds are an instrument that makes the financial economy more flexible, the practical importance of which has recently increased significantly. This makes it necessary to attempt to standardize the position of the funds in relation to public finance in the current sense. The analysis covered by the study refers in particular to selected Funds of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, i.e. the COVID-19 Prevention Fund and the National Road Fund. The set goal implied the need to use a dogmatic research method, as well as a legal analysis of acts of generally applicable law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the corruption scandal in February 2023, related to the procurement by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine of food services for military personnel, the issue of internal control of the sphere of public finances was brought up to date, which makes it necessary to find ways and develop measures to increase its effectiveness and efficiency in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The article aims to outline the conceptual directions of the functioning of internal audit in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, based on the need for its rethinking and further reform. The analysis of the results of the internal audit in the system of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the period 2018-2021 was carried out. It was revealed that in 2020-2021 there was a sharp increase in the volume of violations that led to losses and damages (with a reduction in the number of conducted audits); on the other hand, the indicators of prevented losses and damages significantly decreased. Although the current regulatory framework for internal audit in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is quite developed, the vision and strategy for developing internal audit in this area of public administration need updating. A comprehensive vision of internal audit in ensuring the proper functioning and financing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will create a basis for further identifying the vectors of reform in this area to stakeholder requests. Four key components that determine the functional value of internal audit for the proper functioning of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were revealed: strategic (strategy for the development of internal audit ), resource (proper allocation and use of resources), diagnostic (detection and prevention of fraud and abuse), and communication component (effective communication between various units of the defence department). In order to assess the effectiveness of defence spending, it is necessary to carry out an internal audit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine because a high-quality internal audit environment will increase the transparency of financial resource management processes and will give confidence to the main stakeholders who act as donors that their aid is used effectively for its intended purpose.

Rights and responsibilities of local governments are defined by the central legislature, in accordance with the given country’s rules, traditions, institutions of constitutional and administrative law. To perform public duties they need financial resources, incomes and wealth. Above these, the right of disposition, financial and economic autonomy have to be provided, moreover, the possibility to receive suitable subsidies from central budget. The proportion and guarantees of the income are important too, as the autonomy of local governments depending from central subsidies may be injured. The question of primary importance is that where are the limits of the mentioned autonomy, protected by various constitutional provisions and international legal documents, how the legislature is able to control the law of taxation, to enter transactions that give rise to debts, or how to withdraw different resources from local governments. The central withdrawal and reallocation of resources may raise the issue of local government solidarity. As well as the extent to which the property and income of local governments can be limited. According to the practice of the various constitutional courts and the supreme courts (American, French, German and Hungarian judicature), the rights and authorities of local governments are not unlimited. Although, local governments have to get effective protection, but after all it is the state who determines the content and the framework of relevant legal regulations for local governments. Therefore, within the constitutional framework, the central legislature has a serious opportunity to intervene in protected autonomy by withdrawing or reallocating revenues, assets or subsidies. The research method of the study is primarily financial and administrative legal analysis and legal comparison: in addition to international, constitutional and legal (American, German, French, Hungarian) rules, the basic characteristics of local government financial autonomy are presented based on the principles worked out in various Supreme Court and Constitutional Court decisions elements, as well as the limitations that said autonomy must face as a result of the decisions of the central legislature. The subject of the research is the financial autonomy of local governments and its legal limitations, which point out that autonomy - unfortunately, cannot be unlimited. Local taxation, own revenues and subsidies can indeed provide adequate foundations for independent local government management, however, since local governments must adapt in the state’s central system of public administration and public finances, therefore, within the constitutional framework, the central legislation can make decisions that adversely affect their incomes, budgets and assets.

A direct consequence of the pandemic was the widespread occur-rence, and in many OECD countries – a growing public finance imbalance. The paper presents the results of research on the dynamics and structure of public debt, its relation to GDP and to the net borrowing of the general government sector. The main purpose of the article is to show the impact of the pandemic on the size and structure of public debt in the largest EU economies, as well as in other selected OECD countries. An attempt was also made to identify factors that had a significant impact on the amount of public debt during the pandemic. The new debt was used primarily to finance net borrowing and, ultimately, to support the economy and selected social groups. However, as the article points out, the new debt to a significant extent financed the increase in liquidity in the public sector, and in some cases – a larger volume of loans granted by public sector entities and their equity investments.

The conclusion emerging from the analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public finances in Spain and in Poland in the years 2020–2021 shows that the effects should be considered in the short-term and long-term perspectives. The short-term perspective is featured by deterioration of the budget condition and the public debt ratio of both countries in the first year of the pandemic, and an improvement of the situation in 2021. The effects of the pandemic for public finances were far more severe in Spain, which – viewed objectively – resulted from the fact that financing of the support programmes was to a larger extent based on funds from the state budget. In Poland the impact of these expenditures on the budget was relatively insignificant since the majority of the outlays were taken outside of the state budget, and even out of the sphere of public finances. As a consequence, the budget deficit remained at a moderate level and the debt of the public sector in relation to GDP was half that of Spain. Despite the fact that the condition of public finances was markedly worse there after two years of combating COVID-19, it was decisively more transparent. Admittedly, the model introduced in Poland ensured peace in the system of public finances on the formal side, but it meant future costs that were unavoidable and difficult to assess.

The article analyses the budgetary provision of the regions in the Volga Federal District. A vertical and horizontal imbalance of budgets has been revealed. Only two regions are not subsidized, with estimated budgetary capacity above the national average. To balance the budget system and strengthen its resistance to crisis phenomena in the economy, the resilience property of public finances was considered. It has been established that one of the instruments of resilience is interbudgetary transfers, the improvement of distribution methods of which makes it possible to increase the flexibility and adaptability of the regional economy in a period of environmental turbulence. The existing models for the use of intergovernmental transfers are identified and considered: 1) the introduction of blocks for the distribution of subsidies into the system of substantiation of budgetary appropriations based on the developed methods, 2) a binary model for managing the socio-economic development of the region, which performs the dual functioning of the transfer mechanism and priorities strategic development. In order to increase the territories resilience, a model for managing the transfer mechanism is proposed, which, unlike the existing ones, provides for taking into account the stage belonging of the territories, the features and patterns characteristic of each stage of the life cycle (four stages: education, development, maturity and decline).

The article is devoted to the problem of identifying vulnerable areas for the formation and use of public finances in the region under sanctions pressure on the example of the Republic of Bashkortostan. According to the results of the analysis of the main tax revenues of the consolidated budget of the republic, the zones most exposed to the risk of shortfall in income were identified: firstly, the high volatility of the dynamics of the corporate income tax compared to the personal income tax, and secondly, the decrease in the diversification of tax revenues on profit in the sectoral context, thirdly, the growth of the contribution to the volume of tax revenues of those types of economic activity that have the most favorable tax and investment regime (the need to improve the system of tax and investment preferences). The external factors of formation of vulnerable zones of public finances of subjects of the Russian Federation are analysed. Proposals have been formulated to improve the efficiency of the use of public finances.

Purpose – The present paper aims to evaluate the structural impact of exogenously induced fiscal shocks on the Moroccan economy. This entails an analysis of the effect on the GDP of COVID-19-induced fiscal shocks manifesting in terms of budgetary revenues and expenditures. A key aspect of this analysis addresses the size of the tax and fiscal multipliers. Design/methodology/approach – The study examines the structural relationship between five variables during the period between Q1 2009 and Q2 2020 using an SVAR approach that allows for a dynamic interaction between ordinary expenditures and revenues on a quarterly basis. Findings – Positive structural shocks on public spending are likely to negatively impact economic growth. Negative economic growth, in turn, will damage price levels and interest rates, mainly over the long term. However, public-revenue-multiplier-associated shocks exceed these price- and interest-rate multiplier-associated shocks. Indeed, a structural shock to ordinary revenues can have a positive but insignificant impact on the GDP stemming from the ensuing decrease in the government budget deficit that proceeds from the increase in government revenues. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies in the Moroccan context to assess the impact of the current worldwide pandemic on public finances. In addition, this study highlights the importance of boosting economic recovery through public spending.

In this article, the authors assesses the scope of the use of artificial intelligence technology in the management of the US federal public finance system in the years 2019-2022, with particular emphasis on public finance control. This assessment is indispensable in answering the question of whether artificial intelligence, which is a relatively new technology, is used in the area in question, and to what extent, and most importantly whether, it enables the US federal administration to control public finances. In order to answer this question, a holistic review was carried out of American law standards from the last decade and government documents that directly regulate the issue of artificial intelligence, including the definition of artificial intelligence adopted for the first time in American law, but also a number of other hard law and soft law standards. Law files that are directly or indirectly related to AI. The above allowed the determination of the scope of the political and legal approach to artificial intelligence in the United States of America, as well as the extraction of many conclusions about the use of artificial intelligence and the challenges facing its development. In the opinion of the author, the added value of this publication is the preliminary answer to the question of whether artificial intelligence can change the paradigm of the essence of managing the public finance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]