Search

Due to its overwhelming significance among taxes on earnings in the agricultural and forestry sector, the analyses are primarily concentrated on the international comparison of effective income tax burden in the selected EU Member States as well as Canada, the United States and Japan. In this context, it is particularly stressed that, instead of applying actual earnings, the determination of taxable profits (or income) for small-sized agricultural firms takes place on the basis of standard, blanket amount of earnings in several investigated countries. In addition, national rules on real property tax are introduced in a systematic way. Furthermore, on the basis of legal information existing in the individual countries, an attempt is made in the second step to quantify the impact of such different tax systems on the basis of a model calculation. Although the rules about public subsidies for agriculture and forestry in the EU appear to be largely harmonised, the varied tax treatment of such transfers as extra earnings leads, ceteris paribus, to different effective tax burdens in the individual countries. This fact, in turn, suggests urgent needs for further political discussions on the EU level. The study consists of two parts. The former provides a general, comparative overview of taxation in agricul-ture and forestry in the investigated countries. The latter, with the so-called country reports shows the relevant laws and rules in the individual countries in more detail.

This paper analyses the impact of fiscal policy on private investment for a sample of thirty-three LDCs. The paper makes a number of important contributions to the existing empirical literature. Its main contribution is that it is the first attempt to analyse the existence of a non-linear relationship between fiscal policy variables and investment. Moreover, we explicitly focus on different aspects of fiscal policy and their influence on investment, instead of only looking at aggregate fiscal policy variables.

The paper explores the hypothesis of a double dividend from environmental taxation i.e. whether shifting the burden of taxation away from labour toward the environment can boost employment and increase welfare. We present a general-equilibrium model where the economy is distorted by labour taxes, monopolistic product-market competition, and union-wage bargaining. We find that employment and welfare always increase when the revenue from the introduction of a Pigouvian tax (imposed on firms and households) is fully recycled to cut the rate of the pre-existing labour tax. Moreover, it turns out that the degree of the imperfections influences the magnitude of the effects of the reform. We also offer numerical results for the case in which the pollution tax is positive at the outset.

The stance of fiscal policy in Germany changed in the course of 1999. Government expenditures were cut, significant tax reductions are intended. Fiscal policy fosters the growth of the economy. However, the tax cuts are by far not as large as is often argued; the plan to reform profit taxation includes several disadvantageous elements. Der Kurs der Finanzpolitik in Deutschland hat sich im Verlauf des Jahres 1999 geändert. Ausgabenkürzungen wurden durchgesetzt, deutliche Steuersenkungen sind geplant. Die Finanzpolitik fördert das Wachstum der Wirtschaft. Allerdings sind die Steuersenkungen bei weitem nicht so groß wie oft behauptet; der Plan zur Reform der Unternehmensbesteuerung enthält etliche Mängel.

We present a dynamic model of the interaction between interest groupsand policymakers, featuringendogenous interest group formation. We show that complicated dynamicpatterns in economicpolicies may arise once interest group formation is taken intoaccount.

The paper addresses and summarizes the role of unemployment in the transformation process from an economic system with a dominant state sector to a system with a dominant private sector. After reviewing the basic facts and some of the main explanations why unemployment is high during transition in countries of Central and Eastern Europe the role of unemployment and the fiscal problems due to unemployment is discussed within a model of economies of transition. The model highlights the ambivalent role of unemployment. On the one hand unemployment could jeopardize the transformation process when it reaches a critical value but on the other hand it could be regarded as an unavoidable byproduct and even a necessary device for the success of the whole process. After presenting the main features and conclusions of the model concerning the role of unemployment, another point of view, which lets doubt about the necessity and temporariness of 'transitional unemployment', will be discussed.

In this paper it is argued that the size distribution of firms may largely be determined by institutional factors. This hypothesis is tested in an exploratory fashion by studying the evolution of the size distribution of firms over time in Sweden for a period spanning from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. The data used is divided into finer size classes compared to most previous studies. This gives more scope for investigating the impact of institutions. Moreover, we use a unique data set, starting in 1984, to take account of corporate groups and government ownership. The analysis shows a poor development for intermediate-sized (10-199 employees) firms. This is likely to reflect the existence of a threshold that many firms are either unwilling or unable to cross. The analysis of the institutions and rules of the game determining the entrepreneurial and business conditions in Sweden indicate that the conditions have been unfavorable for small firms, and hence that too few small firms have managed to grow out of the smallest size classes. The conclusion is supported by an international comparison of the number of firms in different size classes. Data indicate that Sweden has fewer small (10-99) employees), and more large (500+) firms per capita than other European countries.

Real Wage Rigidities, Fiscal Policy, and the Stability of EMU in the Transition Phase. - EMU will start with eleven member countries as scheduled on January 1, 1999. The paper shows that the primacy of politics over economics in this decision could have serious consequences concerning the stability of EMU in the transition phase. Speculative attacks against currencies which are in economic distress due to asymmetric shocks can still happen. A speculative attack as such cannot force a country out of EMU. However, the country concerned might voluntarily decide to leave the system as the costs of staying inside EMU, e.g. due to further rising unemployment, become too large to bear.

In the 1970s, taxation of windfall profits from primary products and intervention in trade and production has tempted governments into expansionary fiscal policies while stifling the private sector and depressing growth. However, the experience of the recent coffee boom has so far been more favourable: those African countries which liberalized and left a large share of the windfall with the private sector, and which committed themselves to fiscal austerity via adjustment programs have shown better results in terms of fiscal stability, private sector responses and economic growth than countries which did not reform. These findings suggest that constraints on discretionary government policies are desirable, and domestic institutions and international commitments could serve such purpose.

Social norms and intrinsic motivations lead to environmentally friendly behaviour even in the absence of environmental policy. This paper looks at the interactions of social norms and environmental regulation in their impact on individual behaviour. People obtain social rewards for voluntary abatement efforts. These social rewards may be crowded out by environmental regulation taking the shape of standards or taxes. Moreover, the paper shows that environmental externalities and externalities related to social norms interact and that an optimal environmental policy should consider both types of externalities. From a general welfare point of view, emission taxes are superior to emission standards, but people responsive to social rewards prefer standards.

What factors determine national differences in the size and industry distribution of employment? This study stresses the role of business taxation, employment security laws, credit market policies, wage-setting institutions and the size of the public sector. We characterize these aspects of the economic policy environment in Sweden prior to 1990-91 and compare them to the situation in other European countries and the United States. Our characterization and international comparisons show that Swedish policies strongly disfavored less capital-intensive firms, smaller firms, entry by new firms, and individual and family ownership of business. We also compile evidence that these policies affect outcomes. Taking the U.S. industrial distribution as a benchmark that reflects a comparatively neutral set of policies and institutions, Sweden's employment distribution in the mid-1980s is sharply tilted away from low-wage industries and industries with greater employment shares for smaller firms and establishments. The Swedish rate of self-employment in the 1970s and 1980s is the lowest among all OECD countries. Compared to other European countries, Sweden has an unusually high share of employment in large firms.

En este artículo elaboramos un modelo estilizado que sirve para analizar los efectos de la inmigración sobre el trabajo del país receptor. En dicho modelo, los trabajadores nativos cualificados y poco cualificados se consideran como inputs sustitutivos en la producción, al tiempo que los inmigrantes aportan mano de obra complementaria respecto al primer tipo de trabajo y sustitutiva respecto al segundo. Los salarios de los trabajadores poco cualificados se determinan a través de la negociación colectiva. Se demuestra que, independientemente del grado de competencia vigente en el mercado de trabajo cualificado, existen condiciones suficientes para que la inmigración produzca efectos globalmente favorables sobre los trabajadores nacionales. Las implicaciones del modelo se contrastan empíricamente utilizando información sobre los cambios inducidos en el salario y en el nivel de empleo de los trabajadores en las provincias españolas, a consecuencia del proceso de regularización de inmigrantes que tuvo lugar en España a mediados de 1991. La evidencia aportada indica que los efectos del aumento de la tasa de inmigración asociado a dicha medida fueron favorables, aunque de pequeña magnitud. Publicado

Following the expenditure cuts decided upon by the German federal government in spring 1996, the impact of fiscal policy on the business cycle is investigated. The impulse given by fiscal policy is measured by the change of the structural general government budget surplus/deficit. It turned out that the restrictive stance of fiscal policy cannot prevent an economic upswing in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Medienberichten zufolge plant die Bayerische Staatsregierung, die Verfassungsmäßigkeit der Regelungen zum Länderfinanzausgleich gerichtlich klären zu lassen; das Land Hessen erwägt, sich dieser Klage anzuschließen. Hintergrund dessen ist, dass sich die Geberländer im Finanzausgleich – neben Bayern und Hessen auch Baden-Württemberg und Hamburg – durch die derzeit geltenden Regeln finanziell überfordert fühlen, weil sie einen erheblichen Teil ihrer überdurchschnittlichen Steuereinnahmen an Länder mit geringerer Finanzkraft abzuführen hätten.

Evasion and time inconsistency have been prominent concerns in recent discussions capital income taxation, both theoretical and applied. This paper establishes a link between them, suggesting a potentially useful role for evasion additional to those previously identified: by committing to relatively tax enforcement, the government may be able to alleviate the welfare loss implied by its inability to commit to the tax rate. The scope for this role proves strikingly wide: it is optimal for the government to facilitate the evasion of the capital income taxes that it chooses to impose whenever the time consistent tax rate exceeds that which would be optimal if the government could commit to it.

This paper investigates compositional effects on public-debt dynamics. Our contribution is twofold. First, we improve the methodology by taking explicit account of public-debt dynamics, eliminating a bias present in previous studies. Second, we estimate the evolution of debt dynamics induced by changes in the primary expenditure and revenue ratios - looking at all fiscal periods - not only consolidations as in the previous literature. Whilst we confirm that expenditure cuts are more important for debt reductions than are revenue increases, our findings contrast with the literature in that we obtain persistent debt-augmenting effects of tax reductions.

We assess the role played by fiscal policy in explaining the dynamics of asset markets. Using a panel of ten industrialized countries, we show that a positive fiscal shock has a negative impact in both stock and housing prices. However, while stock prices immediately adjust to the shock and the effect of fiscal policy is temporary, housing prices gradually and persistently fall. Consequently, the attempts of fiscal policy to mitigate stock price developments (e.g. via taxes on capital gains) may severely de-stabilize housing markets. The empirical findings also point to significant fiscal multiplier effects in the context of severe housing busts, which gives rise to the importance of the implementation of fiscal stimulus packages. In addition, our results suggest that when governments run a budget deficit, they place an upward pressure on real interest rates, which ?crowds-out? private consumption and investment. In contrast, during bust periods, unexpected variation in the fiscal stance ? crowds-in? private spending, which reflects the ?direct? and ?indirect? effects of policy actions? impact arising from a downward movement in real interest rates and an upward revision in price level expectations., Nous étudions le rôle de la politique budgétaire pour expliquer la dynamique des marchés d’actifs. À l’aide d’un modèle de données de panel couvrant une dizaine de pays industrialisés, nous montrons qu’un choc budgétaire positif a un effet négatif sur les prix des actifs boursiers et immobiliers. Les premiers réagissent instantanément au choc et l’effet du choc est temporaire. Les prix des actifs immobiliers réagissent progressivement et l’effet du choc est persistant. Par conséquent, toute tentative de stabilisation des marchés immobiliers à l’aide de la politique budgétaire (par exemple à travers les taxes sur les revenus du capital) peut avoir l’effet opposé à celui recherché en déstabilisant ces marchés. Nous trouvons également des effets multiplicateurs significatifs dans les cas d’éclatement des bulles immobilières, ce qui peut justifier le recours à des plans de stabilisation à partir de l’outil de la fiscalité. Nous mettons également évidence des effets d’éviction des déficits budgétaires sur la consommation et l’investissement (à cause de la pression à la hausse exercée sur les taux d’intérêt)., COMETE, QREN, FEDER, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Gegenstand der Studie ist die Quantifizierung des gleichsam automatischen Einflusses der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung auf einzelne Budgetkomponenten und das Budget insgesamt, um den Effekt einer hypothetischen Änderung in der Entwicklung des Outputs auf das Budget und das Defizit abzuschätzen oder, die Kenntnis der konjunkturellen Komponente vorausgesetzt, die einzelnen Budgetkomponenten und den Haushaltssaldo vom Einfluss der konjunkturellen Schwankungen zu bereinigen. Die vorgelegte Studie konzentriert sich zunächst auf das revidierte Verfahren der OECD, das auch in der EPC Output Gap Working Group zugrunde gelegt wird. Das Verfahren wird im Detail vorgestellt, von der Konzeption her diskutiert und im Hinblick auf die Anwendung auf die Verhältnisse in Deutschland nachvollzogen. Zahlreiche Übersichten mit Zahlenbeispielen erläutern die Berechnungsweise und die Interpretation. Anschließend folgt dann eine eigene Analyse der BIP-Elastizitäten, die sich auf ein konsistentes empirisches Verfahren stützt. Die Studie mündet schließlich in eine vergleichende Beurteilung der verschiedenen Verfahren. Der vorgestellte direkte Ansatz zur Messung der Output-Elastizität der öffentlichen Einnahmen und Ausgaben bestätigt den Zusammenhang zwischen Output und Budget aus statistischer Sicht. Der Ansatz zeigt an einzelnen Stellen deutliche Abweichungen zu den auf dem Vorgehen der OECD basierenden Schätzwerten. Für die Elastizität des Budgets insgesamt bestätigt sich aber, dass ein Anstieg des Outputs um 1 Prozentpunkt je nach Ansatz und Gewichtung zu einer Verbesserung des Budgetsaldos in der Größenordnung von 0,5 Prozentpunkten des BIP führt.

We present new evidence showing that fiscal austerity strengthens support for redistribution, especially for the relatively well-off. Our theoretical model proposes two mechanisms to explain this heterogeneity in support for redistribution: ‘altruism’ and ‘appreciation’. We test our theoretical model’s predictions by matching attitudes reported in the British Social Attitudes Survey with local area-level spending cuts in England over the period 2010 to 2015. We exploit the spatial and temporal variation in spending cuts at the Local Authority level to compute a plausibly exogenous measure of the austerity shock. We find evidence for these two channels.