The paper contributes to the debate on the stability/efficiency tradeoff of automatic stabilizers. A simple AD-AS two-country model is presented and illustrates circumstances where a reduction in taxes can foster stabilization. The testable implication from the model is that tax cuts can either...

We use a policy rule framework and focus on the response of the primary surplus to accumulated public debt to test a sufficient condition for sustainability. The evidence we report suggests that sustainability was prevalent in many EU countries before Maastricht, but also that the Maastricht...

This paper assesses the relevance of the competitiveness argument in the debate on the current situation of the Spanish economy. We estimate error-correction models for exports and imports. Econometric analyses suggest that external demand and domestic activity are the more important...

The paper by Carlos Martinez-Mongay focuses on the long-term determinants of government receipts rather than expenditure. The author examines the evolution of revenues in EU countries over the past thirty years as well as the literature on the factors affecting revenue trends in the long run....

Carlos Martinez-Mongay outlines labour tax trends in the European Union over the last three decades. The analysis is based on macro data: the average effective tax rates on labour, consumption and capital. Different measures of effective tax rates on labour in EU Member States are calculated; they...

It is often claimed that tax and welfare reforms that aim at enhancing efficiency may come at the cost of cyclical stabilisation. Reducing the generosity of welfare systems and lowering taxes may boost efficiency and output, and improve market adjustment to shocks. But, by reducing the size of...

Cet article presente une evaluation des effets du programme du Marche unique sur les pays non membres de l’Union europeenne, en particulier les pays en developpement. Il propose une revue de la litterature theorique et empirique sur l’impact de l’integration economique pour ces pays non...