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CHAPTER1.PRACTICALDIMENSIONOFRESEARCHONPUBLICFINANCES
basisoronanaccrualsbasis0TheEuropeanCommissionanalysesandassessesthe
nationalfiscalsituationonanaccrualbasis,whilenationalauthoritiescanusethe
cashaccountingmethod0Theessenceofthedifferenceisinthecalculationofreve-
nuesandexpensesonthedayofclosingthestatebudgetandotherfundsaccounts
includedinthepublicfinancesector0Thepostponementofthepaymentofliabilities
bythecashadministratorsforthenextyeardistortsthebalanceofthestatebudget
(sector);henceitisquestionedbytheEuropeanCommission0Thedifferences,interms
offinancialoperations,inthesectorhadtobetakenintoaccountduringtheanaly-
ses,especiallywhenexaminingthecountries,suchasHungary,bymeansofthecase
studymethod014
Anotherimportantproblemthattheauthorsofthestudyhadtotakeintoconsi-
derationwasrelatedtochangesintheEuropeanSystemofNationalAccounts(ESA)0
Theperiodinwhichtwosystemsfunctioned:ESA95,ESA2010,wasinthescopeof
analysis0Sincethegrossdomesticproductcalculatedwiththesetwomethodsdiffered
significantly,theauthorstriedasfarasavailabledataallowedtorelatethesizeof
thebudgetbalanceandpublicdebttoGDPcalculatedbymeansofthesetwomethods0
ThiswaspossiblebecauseEurostatmadebackwardrecalculationsusingtheESA2010
method0Thisapproachwashelpfulinanobjectiveevaluationoftheprogressorits
lackintheprocessesoffiscalconsolidationofindividualcountries0
Whenanalysingfiscalconsolidationprocesses,anattemptwasmadetoidentify
theimpactofthefiscalpolicytypeontheconditionofpublicfinances0However,the
studyofthisobviousrelationshipisdifficult0Thedifficultiesresultfromaconsid-
erablevarietyofconcepts0IntheKeynesianeconomyapproach,twotypesoffiscal
policyaredistinguished:a)expansive,b)restrictive0Expansivefiscalpolicyconsists
inincreasingexpenditures(mainlyinvestment),taxreduction,orthecombineduse
ofthesefunds0Restrictivefiscalpolicyconsistsinspendingcuts,taxincreases,orthe
combineduseofthesefunds0Thetypeoffiscalpolicypursuedbythestateshould
becloselyrelatedtothecourseofthebusinesscycle0Thismeansthatapro-cyclical
fiscalpolicymaystimulatetheeconomy(economicgrowth,employment,investments)
orinhibiteconomicprocessesinthecaseofathreatofoverheatingtheeconomy0
Itisimportant,however,thattheKeynesianeffectsworkinoppositedirections,i0e0,
forexample,increasingbudgetdeficitsresultsinanincreaseindemand,production,
employmentorthecontrary0
Regardlessoftheexpansiveorrestrictivefiscalpolicy,apassivefiscalpolicyisalso
possible,underwhichautomaticstabilizersareused015
14InHungaryanattemptwasmadetomanipulatethebalanceofthestatebudgetcalculatedusing
thecashaccountingmethodinsteadoftheaccrualmethod,amongothers,onpaymentof13salariesthe
followingyear(moreonthisinChapter7)0
15FiscalPolicyacrossLevelsofGovernmentinTimesofCrisis,OECDNetworkonFiscalRelations
acrossLevelsofGovernment,COM/CTPA/ECO/GOV/WP(2010)120
30