1. Government spending: general government spending deflated with the GDP deflator. For some countries only central government data are available. Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database. Budget balance: general government budget balance as percent of GDP. For some countries only central government data are available. Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database. Government debt: government gross debt as percent of GDP. For some countries only central government data are available;Valencia Laeven;Non-performing loans: data available on the website of Luc Laeven,2008
2. Inflation rate: Consumer price index. Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database Long-term nominal interest rate: Data are only available for OECD countries. Source: OECD Economic Outlook database. Election dates: Legal and Executive Elections taken from Norris;Trend GDP is estimated using an HP-filter on real GDP,2009
3. Expansionary Fiscal Consolidations in Europe: New Evidence;A Afonso;Applied Economics Letters,2010
4. The Dynamic Behaviour of Budget Components and Output;A Afonso;Economic Modelling,2007