This paper analyses the short-run effects of fiscal consolidation measures on economic activity in the euro area during the euro crisis. It presents new econometric estimates on the link between cumulative GDP growth and fiscal austerity measures during 2011-2013. The main empirical finding is...

Using an annual data set covering 17 OECD countries over the time period 1978-2013, this paper analyzes the dynamic effects of fiscal consolidation episodes on income inequality in the short- and medium-run. By estimating impulse response functions from local projections, we find that fiscal...

We reassess the contemporary relevance of the "Kaldor paradox" (1978), according to which changes in relative unit labor costs as well as relative export prices are positively correlated with advanced countries' export shares in world markets - although conventional trade theory predicts the...

This paper surveys existing measures of economic openness understood as the degree to which non-domestic actors can or do participate in a domestic economy. We introduce a typology of openness indicators, which distinguishes between "real" and "financial" openness as well as between "de facto"...

This paper analyzes the determinants of the European Commission's NAIRU estimates for 14 European OECD countries during 1985-2012. The NAIRU is a poor proxy for 'structural unemployment': Labor market institutions - employment protection legislation, union density, tax wedge, minimum wages -...

This paper analyzes the performative impact of the European Commission's model for estimating 'potential output', which is used as a yardstick for measuring the 'structural budget balance' of EU countries and, hence, is crucial for coordinating European fiscal policies. In pre-crisis years,...

While the development of scientific theories and measurement concepts has always been strongly intertwined, model-based measurements, specified as parameters in a statistical model, have been receiving increasing attention over the last decades. In this paper, we analyze the ontological and...

This paper analyzes the impact of economic ideas on political processes and decision-making by focusing on the role and impact of the European Commission's "potential output model". The potential output model represents a core pillar in European fiscal policy coordination, that is, in executing...