The budget elasticities derived in this study indicate that a 1% deviation of GDP from the long-term growth potential causes a purely cyclical change of 0.38% of GDP in Austria's budget balance. The predominance of progressive income taxation in Austria is reflected in the estimated elasticity...

A workshop on Fiscal Spending Rules hosted by the Austrian Government Debt Committee in cooperation with the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) on September 29, 2005, explored two major issues: First, whether national fiscal rules that tie in with the EU fiscal framework can help sustain sound...

This paper presents a framework for analysing the evolution of the structural government deficit estimated using the official EU methodology relevant for the Stability and Growth Pact. The focus of our framework lies in the analysis of the main driving forces of changes in estimated structural...

This paper presents a framework for analysing the evolution of the structural government deficit estimated using the official EU methodology relevant for the Stability and Growth Pact. The focus of our framework lies in the analysis of the main driving forces of changes in estimated structural...

The reform of the Stability and Growth Pact and the incorporation of “debt brake” rules into national legislation have heavily increased the importance of structural balances in economic policymaking in Europe. As defined by the European Commission, structural balances are calculated by...

Before the crisis hit, many euro area countries had failed to create sufficient fiscal room for times of economic difficulty, which made a new reform of the Stability and Growth Pact inevitable. Above all, this most recent reform introduces an expenditure rule in the preventive arm of the pact,...

The new generation of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models seems particularly suited for conducting scenario analysis. These models formalise the behaviour of economic agents on the basis of explicit micro-foundations. As a result, they appear less prone to the Lucas critique...