The Effects of the Economic Adjustment Programmes for Greece: A Quasi-Experimental Approach

Three Economic Adjustment Programmes (EAPs) were implemented in Greece, between2010 and 2015, without achieving the proposed economic objectives. This article analyses the impactof the EAPs in Greece using the synthetic control method (SCM) and has three main contributions.First, it identifies a long-term negative impact worth 35.3 per cent of the Greek GDP per capita causedby the application of the EAPs. Second, it finds that three-quarters of the estimated negative andunsustainable impact accumulated over the 2010?2012 period. Third, it identifies a regressive effectof the EAPs on income distribution, the Greek population with lower incomes experienced a greaternegative effect caused by the adjustment programmes. These results underscore the need to reviewand correct the conditional financial assistance framework currently in force in the European Unio

Oreste Popescu's Contributions to Latin American Scholastic Thought

RESUMEN:Los autores dedican una reseña para homenajear la contribución del Profesor Popescu al pensamiento económico hispanoamericano, destacándolo como una de las principales figuras en América Latina que se dedicó al estudio y difusión de la doctrina económica de la Escuela de Salamanca, entre otros de sus grandes aportes.ABSTRACT: The authors devote a tribute review to Professor Popescu and his contributions to Latin American economic thought. They highlight -among other contributions- his commitment to study and extend School of Salamanca's economic doctrine

Crecimiento, gasto público y Estado de Bienestar en América Latina durante el último medio siglo.

RESUMEN. En este artículo analizamos la relación entre la política fiscal, desde el lado del gasto público agregado y social, y el crecimiento económico latinoamericano durante las cinco últimas décadas, años en los que la región ha experimentado significativos cambios políticos y económicos. Nos servimos como marco de referencia de las aportaciones seminales realizadas por Wagner, Keynes y Beveridge. Entre los principales resultados destaca que la política fiscal se ha encontrado subordinada al crecimiento económico a lo largo del periodo. No obstante, tras el cambio estructural que supuso la crisis de la década de los ochenta, esta relación cambió en algunos países, pasando a ganar la política fiscal un peso significativo en el crecimiento económico de largo plazo. Con este nuevo papel activo, buena parte del mismo a través del gasto público social, se abre una nueva vía de desarrollo económico mediante la implementación de un Estado de Bienestar adaptado a las circunstancias de cada país.ABSTRACT. In this paper we analyze the relationship between fiscal policy, from a total and social public expenditure point of view, and economic growth in Latin America during the last five decades, when the region has undergone significant political and economic changes. As a frame, we use the seminal contributions made by Wagner, Keynes and Beveridge. Among the principal results, we find that fiscal policy has been subordinated to economic growth during the period. However, after the structural change that led to the crisis of the eighties, this relationship changed in some countries, having fiscal policy a significant weight in long‐term economic growth. This new active role, much of it thanks to social expenditure, opens a new path of economic development through the implementation of a welfare state adapted to the circumstances of each country

La economía española, 1996-2008: contrastación de las teorías de Keynes y Hayek.

RESUMEN. La actual situación económica española invita a investigar sobre las causas de la crisis. En el presente artículo nos preguntamos si las teorías de John Maynard Keynes y Friedrich August von Hayek sobre el ciclo económico pueden ayudar a explicar qué está ocurriendo y por qué. Si así fuera, en sus obras también podríamos encontrar alguna ayuda que, aplicada, mitigase el efecto negativo de la fase descendente del ciclo y evitase repetir los hechos, en la medida de lo posible, en el futuro. Para ello aplicamos una metodología basada en la cointegración sobre las series temporales de las principales variables macroeconómicas españolas entre 1996 y 2004. La principal aportación realizada es la identificación de los factores causantes del último ciclo de la economía española. Estos coinciden parcialmente con los expuestos por Hayek, por lo que su teoría encuentra un cierto respaldo empírico en el caso analizado.ABSTRACT. The current present Spanish economic situation invites research on the causes of the global crisis. In this article we enquire whether the theories of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich August von Hayek about the economic cycle can help to explain what is happening now and why. If this is so, their works could help in mitigating the negative effect of the downward phase of the cycle and avoid repeating these errors in the future. In this endeavour we apply cointegration methodology on the time series of the main Spanish macroeconomic variables from 1996 to 2004. The main contribution is to identify the factors that have caused the last cycle of the Spanish economy. These match partially with those put forward by Hayek, so his theory is partially supported in the case analysed

Angus Maddison’s work as a reference in the study of the world economy

RESUMEN. El trabajo realizado por el recientemente fallecido economista británico Angus Maddison constituye sin duda uno de los legados más relevantes de la segunda mitad del siglo XX para el estudio de la Economía Mundial. Las principales aportaciones de Maddison se remiten a cuatro grandes cuestiones: la recopilación de datos y la elaboración pionera de estadísticas de largo plazo; la interpretación del desarrollo de las economías capitalistas avanzadas; el estudio de las causas del atraso de las economías menos desarrolladas; y el análisis comparativo de los patrones de desarrollo económico y cambio estructural mundial y la interacción entre sus componentes. El presente artículo repasa brevemente los principales hitos de la prolífica obra de Maddison en relación a dichos aspectos, con la pretensión de destacar su gran relevancia para el presente y el futuro del estudio de la Economía Mundial.ABSTRACT. The work completed by the recently deceased British economist Angus Maddison is one of the most important legacies of the second half of the twentieth century for the study of the World Economy. Maddison’s major contributions refer to four main issues: data collection and pioneering development of long-term statistics, interpretation of the development of advanced capitalist economies, the study of the causes of the backwardness of the less development economies and the comparative analysis of the patterns of economic development and global structural change and interaction among its components. This article briefly reviews the major milestones of the prolific work of Maddison in relation to these aspects, with the aim of highlighting its great relevance for the present and the future study of the World Economy

Bringing citizens back in: renewing public service regulation.

This essay concerns the ways in which public services – particularly household services such as communications, energy, water and transportation – have been regulated and deregulated, and analyses what consequences this has for users and citizens. Much of the deregulation of public services from the 1980s – liberalization, privatization and New Public Management – was justified by claims that reform would provide users with more choice, whilst they would receive cheaper and better quality services. Little account was taken of the fact that users are highly heterogeneous, that socio-economic differences might be important in determining their consumption of public services, and that this may not lead to socially optimum outcomes. By examining consumption patterns in two large European countries, Spain and the UK, through an analysis of revealed and declared preferences, this paper sheds light on how socio-economic differences among households help determine public service consumption. The main findings are that the supposed benefits of public service deregulation are not evenly spread across populations, and that specifically targeted “bottom-up” regulation from the demand-side could usefully address these issues, thus improving social welfare

The brave new world of public infrastructure: is market-oriented reform producing a "two-track” Europe?

The European Commission has formally recognised that adequate provision of basic household services, including energy, communications, water and transport, is key to ensuring equity, social cohesion and solidarity. And yet little research has been done on the impact of the reform of these services in this regard. This paper offers an innovative way to explore such questions by analysing and contrasting stated and revealed preferences on citizen satisfaction with and expenditure on two services, electricity and telecommunications, in two large European countries, Spain and the United Kingdom. In telecommunications, but much less so in electricity, we find evidence that reform has led to a “two-track” Europe, where citizens who are elderly, not working or the less-educated behave differently in the market, with the result that they are less satisfied with these services than their younger, working, higher-income counterparts

¿Están generando las reformas orientadas hacia el mercado una Europa de “dos velocidades”? Evidencia para los casos de la electricidad y las telecomunicaciones

ABTRACT. The European Commission has formally recognised that adequate provision of basic household services, including energy, communications, water and transport, is key to ensuring equity, social cohesion and solidarity. Yet little research has been done on the impact of the reform of these services in this regard. This article offers an innovative way to explore such questions by analysing and contrasting stated and revealed preferences on citizen satisfaction with and expenditure on two services, electricity and telecommunications, in two large countries, Spain and the United Kingdom. In telecommunications, but to a much lesser extent in electricity, we find evidence that reform has led to a “two-track” Europe, where citizens who are elderly, not working or the less-educated behave differently in the market, with the result that they are less satisfied with these services than their younger, working, better-educated, counterparts.RESUMEN. La Comisión Europea ha establecido que la adecuada provisión de servicios básicos para los hogares, tales como la energía, las telecomunicaciones, el agua y el transporte, es clave para garantizar la equidad, la cohesión social y la solidaridad. Sin embargo, son escasas las investigaciones que han analizado el impacto de las reformas de estos servicios focalizando en dichos aspectos. Este artículo ofrece una aproximación innovadora para explorar estas cuestiones, a partir del análisis y el contraste de las preferencias declaradas (satisfacción de los ciudadanos) y las preferencias reveladas (gasto) con dos de estos servicios, como son electricidad y telecomunicaciones, en dos grandes países europeos: España y el Reino Unido. En telecomunicaciones, pero en mucha menor medida en electricidad, se obtiene evidencia de cómo las reformas han dado lugar a una Europa de “dos velocidades”, con una situación en la cual los ciudadanos de mayor edad, los no ocupados y los de menor nivel educativo se comportan de manera diferente en el mercado, obteniendo como resultado una menor satisfacción con estos servicios que sus homólogos de menor edad, ocupados o con mayor nivel educativo