Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview I. Working Group on Local Government Author(s) Mihaela Onofrei University "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" Iasi Iasi Romania Toader Tudorel, Cigu Elena, Title Regarding Designs for Fiscal Rule and Fiscal Decentralization in Romania File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Mihaela Onofrei Abstract Romania faces a fiscal legal framework for subnational governments that asks for the implementation of sound fiscal policies, notably within the fiscal decentralization process put in practice starting with 90s, where government's responsibilities have been increasingly transferred from central to subnational governments in Romania. This paper investigates the implication of fiscal rules on the effectiveness of fiscal decentralization to achieve fiscal discipline. We firstly aim to provide the context and the development of fiscal legal framework for subnational governments in Romania. Then, we develop a linear regression model for evaluating the relationship between fiscal rules and fiscal decentralization and apply it for the case of subnational governments of Romania over the period of time 2000-2014. Complete answers on the impact of fiscal rules are not likely to be certain but, overall, the evidence strongly supports that well defined and targeted fiscal rules may help in promoting fiscal consolidation, fiscal discipline and can help attain a sustainable fiscal decentralization, but there is still need to take a few more steps to define the best legal framework for fiscal decentralization in Romania. Keywords: fiscal rules, fiscal decentralization, fiscal discipline, subnational governments, JEL Classification: H7, H30, K34
