Asymmetric and Non-Linear Adjustments in Local Fiscal Policy

We analyse the revenue-expenditure patterns of local governments, allowing for asymmetric and non-linear adjustments of local spending and taxation to disequilibrium errors. Our results provide evidence of a downward inflexibility of both local government spending and local taxation, pointing to a budget-maximising local government.fiscal federalism, fly-paper effect, non-linear time-series, asymmetric adjustment

Debt Sustainability and Financial Crises: Evidence from the GIIPS

We assess the sustainability of the public finances of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain (GIIPS), allowing for possible non-linearities in the form of threshold behaviour of the fiscal authorities. We provide some evidence of fiscal sustainability when debt gets “too high” relative to a threshold which is not necessarily fixed but varies with the level of debt relative to its recent history and/or the occurrence of a financial crisis.debt sustainability, financial crisis

Non-linear real exchange rate effects in the UK labour market

Using data over the 1973q1-2004q1 period, this paper identifies an important role for the real exchange rate in affecting UK labour market conditions. When the real exchange rate is undervalued, short-run unemployment falls as firms respond to an improvement in domestic competitiveness by increasing their demand for labour. The unemployment response to the real exchange rate deviations occurs outside a narrow interval band. To the extent that the real exchange rate equation reflects monetary policy considerations, our results imply that unemployment can be targeted by economic policy. Our results also suggest that when the real exchange rate is undervalued, workers respond to an improvement in domestic competitiveness by demanding and getting higher wages. Again, this effect is non-linear.Real exchange rate; unemployment; monetary policy; Smooth Transition Vector Error Correction Model.

Spend-and-Tax Adjustments and the Sustainability of the Government's Intertemporal Budget Constraint

We apply non-linear error-correction models to the empirical testing of the sustainability of the government’s intertemporal budget constraint. Our empirical analysis, based on Italy, shows that the Italian government is meeting its intertemporal budget constraint, in spite of the high levels of public debt. Nevertheless, the burden of correcting budgetary disequilibria is entirely carried out by changes in the average tax rate, with a weakly exogenous government spending, possibly determined by the political process. We document some rigidities of the tax instrument, in terms of downward inflexibility of the average tax rate, not only with respect to its long-run level, but also during periods of decreasing economic growth. Further, we provide some evidence in favour of a non-linear adjustment towards a sustainable long-run equilibrium, as the average tax rate adjusts faster the farther away it is from the equilibrium.intertemporal budget constraint, sustainability, non-linear error-correction, fiscal reaction function

Debt Sustainability and Financial Crises: Evidence from the GIIPS

We assess the sustainability of the public finances of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain (GIIPS), allowing for possible non-linearities in the form of threshold behaviour of the fiscal authorities. We provide some evidence of fiscal sustainability when debt gets “too high” relative to a threshold which is not necessarily fixed but varies with the level of debt relative to its recent history and/or the occurrence of a financial crisis. However, the Greek and Italian debt-to-GDP threshold levels (over which adjustment takes place) exceed 87% and rise further in periods of financial crises. This arguably adds to international investors’ concerns, and as a result, raises the yields demanded for holding Greek and Italian debt. As debt is rolled over at high interest rates, fiscal prospects worsen making default more likely and adding to contagion effects from one Eurozone country to another.debt sustainability, financial crisis

Asymmetric and non-linear adjustments in local fiscal policy

We analyse the revenue-expenditure patterns of local governments, allowing for asymmetric and non-linear adjustments of local spending and taxation to disequilibrium errors. Our results provide evidence of a downward inflexibility of both local government spending and local taxation, pointing to a budget-maximising local government

“Berlusconi scandal” talk has inflated the Italian cost of borrowing over and above the impact of economic fundamentals

Have former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s scandals and court cases had a significant effect on the cost of Italian borrowing? Costas Milas and Gabriella Legrenzi assess the impact of “Berlusconi scandals” on 10 year Italian bond yields by using data from Google search queries as a proxy for interest in Berlusconi’s troubles. They find that over the last four years, valid questions about the lack of sustainability of Italy’s debt have been triggered not only by economic factors, but also by talk related to Berlusconi scandals. Indeed up to 10 per cent of the variance in the spread between 10 year Italian and German bond yields can be attributed to “Berlusconi talk”

Debt sustainability and financial crises: Evidence from the GIIPS

We assess the sustainability of the public finances of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain (GIIPS), allowing for possible non-linearities in the form of threshold behaviour of the fiscal authorities. We provide some evidence of fiscal sustainability when debt gets too high relative to a threshold which is not necessarily fixed but varies with the level of debt relative to its recent history and/or the occurrence of a financial crisis. However, the Greek and Italian debt-to-GDP threshold levels (over which adjustment takes place) exceed 87% and rise further in periods of financial crises. This arguably adds to international investors' concerns, and as a result, raises the yields demanded for holding Greek and Italian debt. As debt is rolled over at high interest rates, fiscal prospects worsen making default more likely and adding to contagion effects from one Eurozone country to another

Fiscal policy sustainability, economic cycle and financial crises: The case of the GIPS

We extend previous work on the sustainability of the government's intertemporal budget constraint by allowing for non-linear adjustment of the fiscal variables, conditional on (i) the sign of budgetary disequilibria and (ii) the phase of the economic cycle. Further, our endogenously estimated threshold for the non-linear adjustment is not fixed; instead it is allowed to vary over time and during financial crises. Our analysis presents particular interest within the current economic scenario of financial crises, poor growth and debt crises. Our empirical analysis, applied to the GIPS, shows evidence of a threshold behaviour for the GIPS, that only correct large unbalances, which, in the case of Greece and Portugal, are higher than the EGSP criteria. Financial crises further relax the threshold for adjustment: during financial crises, only very large budgetary unbalances are corrected

Spend-and-tax adjustments and the sustainability of the government's intertemporal budget constraint

We apply non-linear error-correction models to the empirical testing of the sustainability of the government's intertemporal budget constraint. Our empirical analysis, based on Italy, shows that the Italian government is meeting its intertemporal budget constraint, in spite of the high levels of public debt. Nevertheless, the burden of correcting budgetary disequilibria is entirely carried out by changes in the average tax rate, with a weakly exogenous government spending, possibly determined by the political process. We document some rigidities of the tax instrument, in terms of downward inflexibility of the average tax rate, not only with respect to its long-run level, but also during periods of decreasing economic growth. Further, we provide some evidence in favour of a non-linear adjustment towards a sustainable long-run equilibrium, as the average tax rate adjusts faster the farther away it is from the equilibrium