Assessing welfare impacts of some debt-consolidation episodes in the European Union

This paper aims at characterizing debt consolidation processes put forward by some European countries in order to assess welfare and, in particular, the inequality effects involved. For that we built a general equilibrium heterogeneous-agent model capable of exploring the relationship between fiscal policy variables and the endogenous crosssection distribution of income and wealth. Results show that, with the exception of the Belgian case, all consolidation strategies entail positive welfare gains. The transition costs affect all episodes and are determinant in sorting among the welfareenhancing strategies. Our results confirm the superiority of the adjustments based on unproductive expenditures over those based on tax increases or social transfer reductions. Finally, all strategies involve lower welfare inequality costs.fiscal consolidation dynamics, European Union, heterogeneous agent model, inequality, welfare.

Monetary and Fiscal Policy Interactions in a Monetary Union with Country-size Asymmetry

This paper analyses optimal discretionary non-coordinated monetary and fiscal stabilization policies in a micro-founded New-Keynesian model of a two-country monetary union with country-size asymmetry, under two policy scenarios. A balanced-budget policy scenario and a policy scenario where the presence of government debt limits the macroeconomic stabilization effort and enlarges the sources of strategic policy interactions. Numerical results indicate that non-cooperation exacerbates the fiscal policy activism of a small country while moderating that of a large country. In the balanced-budget scenario, non-cooperation improves (reduces) welfare for a small (large) country while, in the high-debt scenario, it produces the opposite results. Cooperation dominates non-cooperation for the union as a whole.Monetary union; optimal fiscal and monetary policies; asymmetric countries.

Welfare-improving Government Behaviour and Inequality - Inspection Using a Heterogeneous-agent Model

Governments behavior is expected to be non-neutral in terms of impacts on both welfare and inequality. In spite of their multivariate form, a tentative assessment of such inequality impacts can be provided by using a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous-agents and where wealth and income distribution is determined endogenously. Using a model capable of exploring the relationship between fiscal policy variables and the endogenous cross-section distribution of income, wealth, consumption and leisure, this paper produces a welfare and inequality analysis of several equilibriums resulting from different combinations of debt levels and of government budget variables. Moreover, such assessment is based on the empirical reality of the EU countries.government budget composition and debt, heterogeneous agent model, idiosyncratic shock, inequality, welfare.

Monetary Policy and the Political Support for a Labor Market Reform

Lagged benefits relative to costs can politically block an efficiency-enhancing labor market reform, lending support to the two-handed approach. An accommodating monetary policy, conducted alongside the reform, could help bringing the positive effects of the reform to the fore. In order to identify the mechanisms through which monetary policy may affect the political sustainability of a reform, we add stylized features of the labor market to a standard New-Keynesian model for monetary policy analysis. A labor market reform is modeled as a structural change inducing a permanent shift in the flexible-price unemployment and output levels. In addition to the permanent gains, the impact of the timing and magnitude of the reform-induced adjustments on the welfare of workers - employed and unemployed - is crucial to the political feasibility of the reform. Since the adjustments depend, on one hand, on the macroeconomic structure and, on the other hand, can be influenced by monetary policy, we simulate various degrees of output persistence across different policy rules. We find that, if inertias are present, monetary policy, even when conducted by an independent central bank, affects the political support for the reform. In general, the more expansionary (or the less contractionary) the policy is, the faster is the recovery to the new steady-state equilibrium and, thus, the stronger is the political support.Monetary policy rules; Labor market reforms; Unemployment benefit; Political economy; New-Keynesian models

A case for including fiscal policies in the Eurostat Labour Market Policy database

In the context of the growing coordination of labour market policies (LMP) implementation within the European Employment Strategy (EES), the Eurostat offers a harmonised database that intends to be a valuable instrument for international comparisons in the field. However, because its tight scope fails to include some important LMP measures, this database has been playing a small role on studies related with the EES as well on those broadly focusing on labour market and employment policies. This paper intends to address, by using meaningful LMP measures - tax credits in the UK, the prime pour l'emploi and general reductions of employers’ social contributions in France -, the importance of having a more comprehensive database, while maintaining its current structure. For that we discuss the aims and the level of targeting defined by the Eurostat and we include, under this framework, an assessment of these measures to illustrate the limits of the database. We conclude that these policies - apparently fitting the broad objectives of the EES - are explicitly targeted to the labour market, aim at improving its efficiency and undoubtedly benefit particular groups. Moreover, they have an important impact in terms of participants and expenditure involved.European Employment Strategy; Eurostat Database; Active Labour Market Policies; Tax Credits; Reductions of Social Security Contributions.

The Impacts of Structural Changes in the Labor Market: a Comparative Statics Analysis Using Heterogeneous-agent Framework

In this paper we aim at analyzing the impacts on welfare and wealth and consumption distribution across different labor market structural features. In particular, we pursue a steady-state analysis to assess the impacts of unit vacancy costs, unemployment replacement ratio or the job destruction rate, when they are changed in order to promote a given reduction in the unemployment rate. We combine a labor market search and matching framework with unions, based on Mortensen and Pissarides (1994) with a heterogeneous-agent framework close to Imrohoroglu (1989) in a closed economy model. Such approach enables the joint assessment of macroeconomic welfare and inequality together with implications derived from institutional changes in labor market. Moreover, the transition matrix between worker's states is endogenous, fully derived from labor market conditions. Using feasible calibration to the Euro Area, we conclude that different institutional changes to promote unemployment reduction have non-neutral and differentiated effects on welfare and inequality. While changing unit vacancy costs and job destruction can be ranked, changes in the unemployment benefit replacement ration involve a trade-off between gains in welfare and in consumption/income distribution.Labor market institutions, search and matching models, heterogeneous-agent models, welfare and inequality.

Interactions between Labor Market Reforms and Monetary Policy under Slowly Changing Habits

Although central banks often advocate labor market reforms, the latter may lead to higher stabilization costs in the presence of habit persistence in consumption. This is more likely to occur when strong habit persistence is coupled with an inflation-averse central bank. The presence of habit formation is a non-negligible assumption: theoretically, it is now a well-established device used in New-Keynesian models in order to be data-consistent with the response of real spending to several shocks. Moreover, estimates of habit formation are, according to the literature, quite large. To capture the interactions between monetary policy and structural reforms, our model improves on the one presented in Aguiar and Ribeiro (2008) by including a job matching process that introduces additional labor market features through which a labor market reform can operate. Within this framework, we assess, across different policy rules, how labor market institutional changes impinge on the effectiveness of monetary policy. We have concluded that labor market reform reduces central banks' losses, as long as the degree of habit persistence is not too strong; however, alternative reform devices impinge differently on monetary policy effectiveness. Moreover, the inflation targeting rule accommodates positive permanent effects from the reform for a wider range of habit persistence. Even when habit persistence is high, reform may still reduce stabilization costs if the importance of both demand and technology shocks is low relative to cost-push ones.Monetary policy rules, Labor market reform, Labor market search and matching, New-Keynesian models

AVALIAÇÃO DO BEM-ESTAR E ESTRESSE DE PROFESSORES DO ENSINO BÁSICO DO MUNICÍPIO DE ITAJAÍ/SC

A saúde mental é definida como sendo o estado de equilíbrio entre uma pessoa e o seu meio sociocultural. Este estado garante ao indivíduo a sua participação laboral, intelectual e social para alcançar um bem-estar e alguma qualidade de vida. O propósito desse estudo foi avaliar a saúde mental e os sintomas de estresse de professores do ensino básico e secundário público do município de Itajaí (SC). Participaram do estudo 40 professores de uma escola básica. A amostra foi selecionada considerando: motivação pessoal para aceitar o convite para preencher o instrumento. Os participantes preencheram: Escala de dados sociodemográficos; Termo de Consentimento Livre Esclarecido e Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5). Os resultados mostram correlações significativas entre as variáveis estado civil, se possui filhos e se está atualmente em sala de aula. As análises estatísticas mostram que as variáveis:  casado(a), tem filho, atuam em sala de aula, correlacionam-se positivamente com professores que apresentaram ter um nível de sintomas de ansiedade e depressão mais alto. Quanto aos níveis de saúde mental medidos pela escala MHI-5, percebe-se que a amostra está em um nível grave de sintomas de depressão e ansiedade. Sendo assim, há a necessidade de novos estudos, com uma amostra maior, em outras cidades e com outros instrumentos, para fortalecer a ideia de que o professor precisa de ajuda. Também pesquisas onde haja uma intervenção com os professores, ensinando ferramentas para que eles desenvolvam estratégias de enfretamento do estresse, uma possibilidade seria o estudo sobre a inteligência emocional.  La salud mental se define como el estado de equilibrio entre una persona y su entorno sociocultural. Este estado garantiza al individuo su participación laboral, intelectual y social para lograr un bienestar y cierta calidad de vida. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar los síntomas de salud mental y estrés de profesores de las escuelas públicas primarias y secundarias del municipio de Itajaí (SC). Cuarenta maestros de una escuela primaria participaron en el estudio. La muestra fue seleccionada considerando: motivación personal para aceptar la invitación a llenar el instrumento. Los participantes completaron: Escala de datos sociodemográficos; Formulario de consentimiento informado e inventario de salud mental-5 (MHI-5). Los resultados muestran correlaciones significativas entre las variables estado civil, si tienen hijos y si están actualmente en el aula. Los análisis estadísticos muestran que las variables: casado, tener hijo, trabajar en el aula, se correlacionan positivamente con los maestros que presentaron un mayor nivel de síntomas de ansiedad y depresión. En cuanto a los niveles de salud mental medidos por la escala MHI-5, se percibe que la muestra se encuentra en un nivel severo de síntomas de depresión y ansiedad. Por lo tanto, existe la necesidad de más estudios, con una muestra más grande, en otras ciudades y con otros instrumentos, para fortalecer la idea de que el maestro necesita ayuda. También la investigación donde hay una intervención con los profesores, enseñando herramientas para que desarrollen estrategias para el afrontamiento del estrés, una posibilidad sería el estudio de la inteligencia emocional.Mental health is defined as the state of balance between a person and their socio-cultural environment. This state guarantees the individual their labor, intellectual and social participation, in order  to achieve well-being and some quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mental health and stress symptoms of teachers from public elementary and high school in the city of Itajaí (SC). 40 teachers from a basic school participated in the study. Participants completed: Scale of sociodemographic data; Informed Consent Form and Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5). The results show significant correlations between the variables of marital status, whether they have children and whether they are currently teaching. Statistical analysis show that the variables: married, having a child, working in the classroom, positively correlate with teachers who showed a higher level of anxiety and depression symptoms. As for the mental health levels measured by the MHI-5 scale, it is clear that the sample is in a severe level of symptoms of depression and anxiety. Therefore, there is a need for further studies, with a larger sample, in other cities and with other instruments, to strengthen the idea that the teacher needs help. Furthermore, it could also be researched where there is intervention with teachers and educational tools for them to develop strategies to cope with stress. Another possibility would be the study of emotional intelligence applied to teachers.A saúde mental é definida como sendo o estado de equilíbrio entre uma pessoa e o seu meio sociocultural. Este estado garante ao indivíduo a sua participação laboral, intelectual e social para alcançar um bem-estar e alguma qualidade de vida. O propósito desse estudo foi avaliar a saúde mental e os sintomas de estresse de professores do ensino básico e secundário público do município de Itajaí (SC). Participaram do estudo 40 professores de uma escola básica. A amostra foi selecionada considerando: motivação pessoal para aceitar o convite para preencher o instrumento. Os participantes preencheram: Escala de dados sociodemográficos; Termo de Consentimento Livre Esclarecido e Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5). Os resultados mostram correlações significativas entre as variáveis estado civil, se possui filhos e se está atualmente em sala de aula. As análises estatísticas mostram que as variáveis:  casado(a), tem filho, atuam em sala de aula, correlacionam-se positivamente com professores que apresentaram ter um nível de sintomas de ansiedade e depressão mais alto. Quanto aos níveis de saúde mental medidos pela escala MHI-5, percebe-se que a amostra está em um nível grave de sintomas de depressão e ansiedade. Sendo assim, há a necessidade de novos estudos, com uma amostra maior, em outras cidades e com outros instrumentos, para fortalecer a ideia de que o professor precisa de ajuda. Também pesquisas onde haja uma intervenção com os professores, ensinando ferramentas para que eles desenvolvam estratégias de enfretamento do estresse, uma possibilidade seria o estudo sobre a inteligência emocional.

Cape Verde: The Case for Euroization

After 10 years of a fixed exchange rate against the euro and a deepening integration with the European Union (EU), the authorities of Cape Verde maintain a strong commitment to nominal stability and are now considering the official euroization of the country. Compared to the current pegging, euroization could be costly if the economic conditions of Cape Verde were to require control over the interest rates and the exchange rate. Given the strong economic and financial integration between Cape Verde and Europe, and the fact that Cape Verde records inflation rates at levels that are similar to those of the European Monetary Union (EMU), the relevant issue is whether the European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy fits the needs of Cape Verde. In order to answer this question, we empirically assess the synchronization between the business cycle of Cape Verde and the business cycle of the EMU. For that purpose, we compute output gaps and then use conventional correlation measures as well as other indicators recently suggested in the literature. Replicating the methodology for each of the current 27 EU members, our results show that Cape Verde ranks better than several EU countries and even better than some EMU countries. We thus argue that there is a strong case for the euroization of Cape Verde. Euroization would secure the benefits already attained with the pegging to the euro and would warrant additional benefits, most likely with no relevant costs stemming from inappropriate ECB monetary policies.Africa, Cape Verde, European Monetary Union, Euroization, Business Cycles

Farmers' Demand for Information about Agribusiness

This study is focused on the habits of the Brazilian farmers that access the Internet for searching information to their economical activities. The main goal is to understand how come those agents of the agribusiness use the formal and informal (personal contact) means of communication, as well as the functions that each of those means accomplish to this public. In other words, it intends to identify the channels of communication of major importance to farmers (used more often, considered the ones of more credibility and preferred among them). That is possible by means of a questionnaire sent exclusively by e-mail, answered by Brazilian farmers. The motivation of the study is to contribute to make the communication more efficient to those who work on farms. That can produce benefits to the communication companies and to the public. The results show that the Internet is the mean of communication more often used and preferred on the process of searching information about the agribusiness among Brazilian farmers. The personal contact, not considered in the valuation about preference, appears in second position in the ranking for intensity of use. On the other hand, the radio, regional press newspapers and newsletters of class entities were the less consulted and the last ones in the ranking of preference.Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,