We analyze how the combined effect of automatic stabilizers and discretionary changes in tax-benefit systems have affected the cushioning of income shocks in the Euro zone and the EU-27 in the period 2007–2014. We propose a new summary measure of the combined effect of automatic stabilizers...

We evaluate the effects of structural tax reforms on government spending efficiency in a sample of OECD economies over the period 2007-2016. After calculating input spending efficiency scores, we assess the relevance for efficiency of narrative tax changes in a panel setup. We find that: i)...

This paper analyzes the magnitude of local knowledge spillovers of public R&D in Germany and its determinants using patent application data. We identify three distinct transmission channels. First, firms file more patent applications when collaborating with (local) public institutions. Second,...

We discuss and provide an overview of the size and role of the government, notably in terms of what the government "should" do, how the government could spend and intervene in the economy, how much governments spend and what they spend their money on. This is done from a historical perspective...

The lesson of the sovereign debt crises of the 2010s, and of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is that EMU irreversibility, if not to remain a wishful statement in the founding treaties, necessitates to be completed by carefully designed ramparts for extraordinary times beside regulations...

We analyse the international transmission of interest rates by focusing on the role of the accumulation of international reserves and on the financing of sovereign debt. An increase in foreign exchange reserves is expected to moderate the influence of U.S. interest rates. However, a high level...