Ergänzend zu dem im ifo Schnelldienst 11/2004 diskutierten Thema "Sollte die Unternehmensbesteuerung innerhalb der EU harmonisiert werden?" plädiert Prof. Dr. Christoph Spengel, Universität Gießen, für eine Angleichung der effektiven Unternehmenssteuerbelastungen innerhalb der EU. Dazu...

This paper considers the determinants of the macroeconomic costs of joining EMU for the new EU Member Sates, and compares them with those of the EMU members. Specifically, we investigate the business-cycle correlation between the candidate's economy and that of the euro area as a whole, and the...

I use a panel of semi-annual vintages of growth and fiscal forecasts of the European Commission, covering the period 1998:II-2008:II, to assess its effects on 10-year government yields for 14 EU countries. Results show that yields increase with better growth forecasts, and with decreases in...

I use a panel of semi-annual vintages of growth and fiscal forecasts of the European Commission, covering the period 1998:II-2008:II, to assess its effects on 10-year government yields for 14 EU countries. Results show that yields increase with better growth forecasts, and with decreases in...

We trace back Romania's development to a low-tax country among the Member States of the European Union by analyzing the major tax law changes in corporate taxation since 1992. We find that the significant reduction of the corporate income tax rate from 45% in 1992 to 16% since 2005 has not been...