This report evaluates the tax-benefit reforms in 1996?2001. The Government appointed a working group in 1995 to plan the tax-benefit reforms. The proposals of the group were first implemented in 1997 and all the measures were carried out by 1998. After 1998 the focus has shifted to improve the...

Abstract: This paper discusses the fiscal policy reactions and economic policies of European countries and the United States during the Great Depression. Economic as well as economic history literature has tended to overlook the fiscal policy aspects of the Great Depression, in particular in...

Low aggregate investment in Finland has been argued to merely reflect structural change to an innovation economy, with high R&D levels adequately compensating for reduced physical investment. This paper briefly reviews the issues and discusses the severity and persistence of the shortage....

This paper reviews the macroeconomic performance of the so called Nordic welfare states, especially in terms of growth and employment. In the post-war years the Nordic economies enjoyed rapid growth and full employment. At the same time, under the rule of Social Democratic governments they also...

Consider a public project which produces a consumption good and which benefits future generations. Let a conventional cost-benefit analysis find that it gives higher benelits than projects it would displace in the private sector. Voters may nevertheless oppose the public project. The cause of...

The economic effects of an ageing population are preoccupying policy-makers in most industrial countries. In this paper, we study the economic impact of the demographic shock in Finland, a country for which the post-war fertility shock was particularly large. The framework for our analysis is an...

Applied general equilibrium models have become a standard tool for the analysis of structural policies in many countries and international research organisations. Their use has been prompted by both developments in economics, but also on the growing need for quantitative policy analysis. The...

This dissertation is a collection of three studies whose central theme is the business subsidies policy implemented in Finland during the 1990s by the ministry of Trade and Industry (KTM). The purpose is to examine whether the policy is effective and at the same time explain the rationale behind...