This paper presents a simple analysis of the public debt-to-GDP ratio responses to fiscal consolidation efforts envisaged in the 2013 Stability and Convergence Programmes presented by EU Member States. In this paper we assess the response of the debt-to-GDP ratio to the fiscal consolidation...

This paper aims to assess the size of the wage gap between the public and private sectors within all European Union countries by using the European Structure of Earnings Survey (SES henceforth), compiled by Eurostat for the years 2006 and 2010. Public sector employees are found to enjoy on...

Summary for non-specialistsThis paper compares alternative methodologies for estimating real exchange rate misalignment for EU countries. It is shown that current account-based approaches (based on NFA stabilisation and current account norms) and relative-price based approaches (BEER and...

The success of a consolidation in reducing the debt ratio depends crucially on the value of the multiplier, which measures the impact of consolidation on growth, and on the reaction of sovereign yields to such a consolidation. We present a theoretical framework that formalizes the response of...

The financial and economic crisis has generated renewed interest, especially among policy-makers, in early-warning systems that could help identifying fiscal and macro-financial vulnerabilities potentially triggering risks. Against this background, this paper presents an early-warning index of...

The cyclically-adjusted budget balance (CAB) is the backbone of the EU framework of fiscal surveillance, both in its preventive and corrective arms. The concept corresponds to the budget balance prevailing if the economy was running at potential. After correcting for the one-off and temporary...

In current practice, changes in the cyclically-adjusted budget balance (CAB) are generally interpreted as reflecting the effort of discretionary fiscal policy. This paper shows that such an interpretation is not a sufficiently accurate description of the behaviour of fiscal policy, and, in some...