The Swedish Macroeconomic Policy Framework

The paper describes the monetary and fiscal policy frameworks in Sweden and analyses how they were established as well as current challenges. Sweden provides a good example of how deep economic crisis, in interaction with independent thinking by academics and other experts as well as policy influences from abroad, can lead to fundamental reforms of policy frameworks. It remains to be seen whether it will be possible in Sweden to adapt the monetary and fiscal frameworks to changed circumstances, while still preserving the benefits they have delivered

Country characteristics and the incidence of capital income taxation on wages: an empirical assessment

This paper examines the incidence of corporate income taxes on wages using data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for 13 OECD countries. Within a wage-bargaining framework, our econometric analysis shows that a substantial share of the corporate tax burden is shifted from capital to labour. However, the magnitude of this shift is influenced importantly by country characteristics affecting the process of wage determination, such as the degree of capital mobility, a country's relative influence over the world price of output and trade unions’ strength

Lohnsubventionen in Deutschland: wie sieht eine optimale Evaluierungsstrategie aus?

Lohnsubventionen werden als eine relativ flexible und effiziente Methode gesehen, um die Nachfrage nach gering qualifizierten Arbeitnehmern zu erhöhen und ihre Einkommens- und Beschäftigungschancen zu verbessern. Auch in Deutschland gewinnt die Förderung durch dieses Instrument aktiver Arbeitsmarktpolitik einerseits zunehmend an Bedeutung, wird andererseits aber auch kritisiert. Neben dem aus humankapitaltheoretischer Sicht fehlenden Weiterbildungsaspekt steht vor allem das Auftreten von Mitnahme-, Substitutions- und Verdrängungseffekten im Mittelpunkt der Kritik. Diese Effekte konterkarieren die erhoffte positive Wirkung von Lohnsubventionen und sind in der Regel schwer zu messen. Wir skizzieren in diesem Papier eine dreistufige Evaluierungsstrategie, bei der zunächst auf mikroökonomischer Ebene die Wirkung der Subvention auf den geförderten Arbeitnehmer untersucht wird. Anschließend steht die Arbeitsnachfrage im Vordergrund des Interesses, um Mitnahme- und Substitutionseffekte innerhalb eines Unternehmens zu ermitteln, bevor die Effekte auf gesamtwirtschaftlicher Ebene analysiert werden sollen. Die umfassende empirische Evaluation von Lohnsubventionen in Deutschland steht noch aus, da die dafür notwendigen Daten noch nicht zur Verfügung stehen. Sobald dies der Fall ist, kann eine Bewertung auf den drei angesprochenen Ebenen erfolgen

Firm heterogeneity and wages under different bargaining regimes : does a centralised union care for low-productivity firms?

This paper studies the relationship between wages and the degree of firm heterogeneity in a given industry under different wage setting structures. To derive testable hypotheses, we set up a theoretical model that analyses the sensitivity of wages to the variability in productivity conditions in a unionsised oligopoly framework. The model distinguishes centralised and decentralised wage determination. The theoretical results predict wages to be negatively associated with the degree of firm heterogeneity under centralised wage-setting, as unions internalise negative externalities of a wage increase for low-productivity firms. We test this prediction using a linked employeremployee panel data set from the German mining and manufacturing sector. Consistent with our hypotheses, the empirical results suggest that under industry-level bargaining workers in more heterogeneous sectors receive lower wages than workers in more homogeneous sectors. In contrast, the degree of firm heterogeneity is found to have no negative impact on wages in uncovered firms and under firm-level contracts

The Roles of Fiscal Rules, Fiscal Councils and Fiscal Union in EU Integration

EU-level fiscal rules have not been able to prevent the large-scale accumulation of government debt in many eurozone countries. One explanation was major flaws in the rules. Some of these flaws have now been corrected. But the failure of the rules depended also on fundamental problems of time inconsistency. The same time-inconsistency problems that the rules were designed to address also apply to the rules themselves. Fiscal councils may be subject to less of such problems than rules. Still it is unlikely that a monetary union where bail-outs of governments are part of the system is viable in the long run. The sustainability of the euro may require a restoration of the no-bail-out clause and a strengthening of the banking union in ways that would allow it to cope with the financial repercussions that could arise from allowing government bankruptcies

Market Work, Home Production, Consumer Demand and Unemployment among the Unskilled

We develop a general equilibrium model in which longer working time and higher labor force participation lead to a fall in unemployment. Longer working hours and higher labor force participation have two direct effects: People have higher incomes and less (leisure) time. This has implications for the composition of consumer demand, since people spend less time on home production. Instead, they outsource more domestic tasks to the market. Consumer demand shifts toward unskill-intensive goods. The relative demand for unskilled labor rises and unemployment falls. We provide empirical evidence for our theoretical predictions in several ways: We study the link between labor market participation, home production and the demand for household and similar services using the German time use survey conducted in 1991/92. In addition, we use panel data for 23 OECD countries between 1980 and 2003 to directly examine the link between labor force participation and the unemployment rate. The empirical results corroborate the predictions from the theoretical model

Fiskalische Transfermechanismen und asymmetrische Schocks in Euroland

Die Diskussion über die Wahrscheinlichkeit asymmetrischer Schocks in Europa hat trotz Gründung der Europäischen Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion an Aktualität nicht verloren. In diesem Beitrag wird daher die Frage gestellt, welche fiskalischen Anpassungsmechanismen geeignet sind, solche asymmetrischen Schocks aufzufangen. In einem ersten Schritt werden die bestehenden marktlichen Instrumente betrachtet. Insbesondere wird die Rolle der internationalen Arbeitskräftemobilität sowie der Flexibilität relativer regionaler Preise thematisiert. Im Rahmen der Arbeit wird anschließend auf die institutionellen Anpassungsmechanismen näher eingegangen. Dabei werden in einem zweiten Schritt die Rolle automatischer Stabilisatoren, mögliche Stabilisierungseffekte des EU-Budgets, Auswirkungen der EU-Strukturförderung und schließlich Möglichkeiten eines europäischen Finanzausgleichs untersucht. Neben diesen automatischen institutionellen Mechanismen werden abschließend dikretionäre Bekämpfungsmöglichkeiten asymmetrischer Schocks, vor allem nationale Fiskalpolitiken sowie diskretionäre Transfers aus dem EU-Budget, unter dem Stichwort "Stabilisierungsfonds" angesprochen

Social Models for Dealing with Inequalities

Production of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004This chapter compares social models in Europe and Latin America. The goal is to study the interaction between two institutions: on the one hand, pre-distributive (ex ante) institutions, such as the structure and coverage of collective bargaining and, on the other hand, post-distributive (ex post) institutions, such as unemployment protection and social policy. Pre-distributive institutions are important for correcting inequalities in the labour market, because they introduce guidelines for egalitarian wage structures. Post-distributive institutions help to mitigate inequalities generated in the labour market. The methodology is based on statistical analysis of a series of indicators related to pre and post-distributive policies. The results present three types of model: (1) coordinated economies, typical of neo-corporatist Scandinavian countries; (2) mixed economies, typical of Mediterranean systems, and (3) uncoordinated economies, which equate to liberalism and the Latin American 'structural heterogeneity' model. It is neo-corporatist coordinated economies that generate the most pre and post-distributive equality. In turn, uncoordinated economies, and Latin American ones in particular, generate more inequalities due to highly informal employment and the weakness of their post-distributive institutions