The paper analyzes the usefulness of budgetary cooperation in a monetary union, even if it is limited to a subgroup of countries with close structural characteristics. The author finds that its advantages depend on the nature of the shocks and on the width of the heterogeneities within the...

A dynamic general equilibrium two-country optimizing model is used to analyze the welfare effects of monetary policy in open economies. The distinguishing feature of the model is that householdsÂ’ preferences feature a "keeping up with the Joneses" effect. This effect implies that...

We develop a dynamic general equilibrium two-economy model in order to analyze the welfare effects of monetary policy in open economies. The model features two distortions: one distortion due to monopolistic competition, and one distortion due to a consumption externality. This consumption...

Coordination is a fundamental principle for economic policy in the EU. There is a consensus that soft coordination (exchange of information, general guidelines for economic policy) is useful. Whether stabilization policies should be coordinated is another matter. Against the background of the...

The paper elaborates on the employment intensity of growth. Previous evidence regarding this question is surveyed. Empirical results concerning Europe and selected other industrial countries reveal that the cyclical link between unemployment and growth is still stable in the nineties. However,...

The paper takes into account both the concerns of the EU, arguing that convergence is incomplete, and the demands from accession countries, claiming that monetary integration is optimal. Indicators are developed which measure convergence and optimality in comparison with a reference group of the...

This paper uses a dynamic general equilibrium two-country optimizing ‘new-open economy macroeconomics’ model to analyze the consequences of international capital mobility for the effectiveness of fiscal policy. Conventional wisdom suggests that higher capital mobility diminishes the...

We formulate and estimate a simple fiscal policy reaction function for the euro area and individual euro area countries. Our reaction function allows for primary surpluses to feature three components: an anti-cyclical response of primary surpluses to the output gap, a response to the debt-GDP...

This paper provides a set of detailed estimated fiscal reaction functions for a panel of twenty industrialized countries, and it discusses commonalities and differences with regard to systematic fiscal policies across countries. In general, the countries in the panel adjust tax revenues strongly...