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The paper aims to assess the macroeconomic impacts of government investment in Research and Development (R&D) and more generic fiscal policies by quantifying the Gross domestic product (GDP) and business R&D investment multipliers. Following the recent literature on fiscal policy, we combine the Local Projection approach with fiscal shocks estimated using Structural Vector Autoregressive modeling by focusing on a panel of 15 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for the 1981–2017 period. Our findings support the idea that expansionary fiscal policies can positively and persistently affect the GDP level and crowd in business R&D investment. Additionally, our results show that public investment in R&D generates the largest multiplicative effect both on GDP and business R&D than the one associated with more generic public expenditures, even when fiscal expectations are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay contributes to the debate on the relevance of fiscal multipliers in the design of economic policies. The need for a different methodological perspective emerges from the results produced in the Eurozone by various fiscal consolidation programs, which, after being implemented following the sovereign debt crisis of 2011 and then suspended to address the COVID-19 crisis, are now being reintroduced according to the balanced budget rules set forth by the Maastricht Treaty. Building on the method elaborated by Pasinetti, we identify the sustainability area of the debt-to-GDP ratio within which different levels of public deficit can be achieved based on the fiscal multiplier. The analysis reveals that, under certain country-specific conditions, imposing limits on public spending can be counterproductive to the sustainability of public debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work takes inspiration from four theoretical strands: recent developments in ecological macroeconomics; the Schumpeterian framework of evolutionary economics that emphasises the entrepreneurial role of the State; the stock-flow consistent approach to macroeconomic modelling; and the supermultiplier model. Building upon these approaches, we develop a formal model that reproduces key interactions between the economy, the financial sector, the ecosystem and the society. We test and assess the effects of several fiscal policies. We find that, in principle, mission-oriented innovation policies are the most effective option in supporting innovation and growth, while reducing income inequality. However, lacking a 'green' and progressive taxation system, they are unlikely to reverse the current trend in atmospheric temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a revival of the so-called 'utilisation controversy' has seen several scholars engage in a lively debate that still revolves around the same old question: what should we expect, beyond the short run, with regard to the degree of capacity utilisation? In this article, we tackle this issue by investigating the relationship between the level of economic activity and the ensuing utilisation of existing capacity. In order to assess the effect of the former on the latter and to provide a robust and clear picture of this phenomenon, we use a Structural VAR and Local Projection methodologies to estimate three alternative models, based on monthly data on the US economy. After presenting our empirical results, which point to only temporary effects on capacity utilisation of shocks to the level of economic activity, we verify their compatibility with alternative demand-led growth models. We conclude that autonomous demand-led models cum convergence towards normal utilisation perform better in terms of consistency with the econometric evidence, while the latter seems to call for a re-examination of 'conventional' versions of the Neo-Kaleckian model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to estimate the government investment fiscal multipliers in select European countries for the period 1970–2016. To do this, we combine Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) modeling with the Local Projections (LP) approach. We estimate models by also controlling for fiscal foresight, excluding the postcrisis period and distinguishing between Northern and Southern countries. Our findings suggest that an increase in government investment generates a "Keynesian effect" by engendering positive and permanent effects on the GDP level, even when government expenditure expectations are considered. Fiscal multipliers are close to 1 on impact and increase in the years after the implementation of a discretionary fiscal policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to estimate fiscal multipliers in Italy by assessing the effect of an increase in government expenditure and taxes on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By applying structural vector autoregressive modelling to Italian quarterly data for the 1995–2019 period, I show that expansionary fiscal policies produce positive effects on the GDP level. Estimated spending multipliers are higher than 1, and when government investment and consumption are compared, findings show that government investment has a larger effect on GDP than government consumption. Estimated tax multipliers are lower than 1, and tax-based policies are less effective in stimulating GDP than expenditure-based fiscal plans. My findings strongly support the Keynesian perspective and indicate that Italy should increase public investments considerably in order to foster economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the ability of central banks to affect the structure of interest rates. We assess the causal relationship between the short‐term Effective Federal Funds Rate (FF) and long‐term interest rates associated with both public and private bonds and specifically, the 10‐Year Treasury Bond (GB10Y) and the Moody's Aaa Corporate Bond (AAA). To do this, we apply Structural Vector Autoregressive models to U.S. monthly data for the 1954–2018 period. Based on results derived from impulse response functions and forecast error variance decomposition, we find: a bidirectional relationship when GB10Y is considered as the long‐term rate and a unidirectional relationship that moves from short‐ to long‐term interest rates when AAA is considered. These conclusions show that monetary policy is able to permanently affect long‐term interest rates and the central bank has a certain degree of freedom in setting the levels of the short‐term policy rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to provide a theoretical advancement in the post‐Keynesian debate between horizontalists and structuralists by offering an additional theoretical support to the horizontalist view. Through the newly introduced notion of paradox of illiquidity, a critique to the endogenous money–liquidity preference model is developed, by focusing on the relationship between the volume of loans and the mark‐up. The paradox of illiquidity aims to deny: (a) the idea of a banking sector achieving illiquid position during its lending activities and, consequently, (b) the view of an upward sloping credit supply curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]