We estimate the long-term impact of social security and social protection spending in a set of twelve EU countries. We estimate country-specific VARs relating GDP, unemployment, savings, and social spending. We find that social spending has a negative effect in most countries while the effects...

Using PESSOA, a DSGE model for a small euro area economy, we analyze the size of fiscal multipliers associated with a large fiscal consolidation in "normal times" and in "crisis times." The crisis times scenario embodies a temporary increase in nominal rigidities and in financial frictions,...