Ageing and the long-run fiscal sustainability of health care across levels of government
Authors: Pietrangelo de Biase, Sean Dougherty and Luca Lorenzoni
OECD economies are undergoing a seemingly inevitable process of population ageing that has been changing income and consumption patterns. Notably, the demand for health services is expected to increase, while labour forces are projected to shrink. Both factors are projected to negatively impact the sustainability of health systems – the former through an increase in government expenditures on health and the latter through a decrease in government revenues. As health systems and their funding streams tend to be at least partially decentralised in most OECD countries, this fiscal pressure is expected to be asymmetric across levels of government. The objective of this paper is to provide order-of-magnitude estimates of the possible effects of population ageing on government finances across OECD countries, and to discuss reforms to fiscal federalism and intergovernmental relations with the purpose of funding expenditures at all levels of government.
Improving subnational governments’ resilience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Luiz de Mello and Teresa Ter-Minassian
The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on lives, the economy, and the public finances worldwide, drawing attention to the need to enhance resilience to future shocks. This paper focuses on subnational governments, given their important and growing role in the provision of essential public goods and services worldwide. The paper discusses key aspects of subnational resilience, in particular the sensitivity of subnational finances to macroeconomic cycles and shocks and the availability of fiscal buffers; the main factors influencing subnational governments’ ability to provide essential services during crises; and their ability to anticipate and prepare for future shocks, especially those related to climate change. The paper also discusses policy and institutional reform options for both national and the subnational governments to strengthen subnational resilience.
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