From Containment to Rationalization: Increasing Public Expenditure Efficiency in France

Jean-Jacques Hallaert and Maximilien Queyranne

No 2016/007, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: Achieving France’s medium-term fiscal targets will require significant expenditure efforts. This paper identifies areas where there is scope for increasing expenditure efficiency, with a view to achieving higher quality and more sustainable fiscal consolidation. The methodology is based on a triple benchmarking. First, the level of public expenditure in different categories is compared to other European countries. Second, the impact of spending is assessed against other European countries. Third, the input mix is analyzed to understand what components are responsible for the level of spending and for the quality of outcomes This is done for various categories of spending and policies. Based on these results, the paper then provides policy options for expenditure reform in each of these areas, drawing on successful reform episodes in other countries.

Keywords: WP; wage bill; central government; EU average; labor market; poverty rate; Public Expenditure; Efficiency; Fiscal consolidation; Fiscal Policy; France; wage drift; family allowance; General government wage; containment approach; retirement age; bill containment; unemployment rate; local government; Health care spending; Total expenditures; Wages; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 65
Date: 2016-01-21
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=43637 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2016/007

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/pubs/ord_info.htm

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC USA. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Akshay Modi ().