When Are Fiscal Contractions Successful? Lessons for Countries Within and Outside the EMU

In the past 25 years, many OECD countries have implemented fiscal contractions to strengthen their public finances. The macroeconomic outcomes of these efforts have <p> varied. With the aid of an econometric model, this paper seeks to identify the factors <p> that make contractions successful from a macroeconomic standpoint. The findings <p> suggest, among other things, that favorable changes in the real exchange rate prior <p> to the period of fiscal contraction and in the real quantity of money during this period <p> play an important part in the macroeconomic outcome. This indicates in turn that it <p> may be more difficult to implement successful fiscal contractions within the EMU. The <p> findings also show that the composition of the contraction in regard to the relative <p> proportions of tax increases and expenditure cutbacks, respectively, is probably less <p> important than has usually been assumed.