Bericht zur Lage der europäischen Wirtschaft: Ein neuer Krisenmechanismus für die Eurozone

Am 22. Februar 2011 stellte die European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG) at CESifo ihren nunmehr zehnten Report on the European Economy in Brüssel vor (EEAG Report on the European Economy 2011). Die Gruppe von internationalen Ökonomen thematisiert insbesondere die Verschuldungskrise in Europa als Folge der Finanzkrise. Im Fokus des diesjährigen Berichts stehen Länderstudien zu Griechenland und Spanien sowie das Design eines Krisenmechanismus für die Eurozone. Darüber hinaus werden Wege zur Regulierung des Finanzsektors aufgezeigt. Wie in den vergangenen Jahren liefert die EEAG auch eine Konjunkturprognose für die europäische Wirtschaft. In diesem Artikel werden die fünf Kapitel des Reports zusammengefasst. Der gesamte EEAG Report kann unter http://www.cesifo-group.de/eeag heruntergeladen werden.Finanzmarktkrise Schulden Euromarkt Krisenmanagement Wirtschaftslage Wirtschaftspolitik Wirtschaftspolitische Wirkungsanalyse Wirtschaftspolitische Beratung EU-Staaten

The Long-run Determinants of Australian Income Inequality

Recent interest has been stimulated by the growth of income inequality in most developed countries during the 1980s and 1990s. However, considerable uncertainty still exists as to which factors have been the most important causes of this development. This article uses a measure of income inequality derived from taxation statistics and a recently proposed method for testing long-run Granger non-causality to examine the key determinants of Australia’s inequality for the years 1970–2001. In line with popular concern, we find that globalisation and technological progress – defined as the global flow of information – has increased income inequality. In contrast, improved terms of trade have been equity-enhancing. Of the institutional determinants, de-unionisation has had an adverse effect on income inequality, where as higher minimum wages have reduced it

Employment protection versus flexicurity : on technology adoption in unionised tirms

We analyse how different labour-market institutions – employment protection versus ‘flexicurity’– affect technology adoption in unionised firms. We consider trade unions’ incentives to oppose or endorse labour-saving technology and firms’ incentives to invest in such technology. Increased flexicurity – interpreted as less employment protection and a higher reservation wage for workers – unambiguously increases firms’ incentives for technology adoption. If unions have some direct influence on technology, a higher reservation wage also makes unions more willing to accept technological change. Less employment protection has the opposite effect, as this increases the downside (job losses) of labour-saving technology.COMPETE; QREN; FEDERFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT