This paper revives the question of whether a temporary VAT change is an adequate instrument for crisis stabilization. In empirical assessments, we find that durable goods consumption fluctuates strongly over the business cycle and that VAT rate changes affect durable goods in particular....

This paper examines the dynamics of wealth and income inequality along the business cycle and assesses how they are related to fluctuations in the functional income distribution. In a panel estimation for OECD countries between 1970 and 2016 we find that on average income inequality - measured...

Although macroeconomic effects of asset purchases are intensively discussed, the literature addressing "tapering" is rather thin. Using a broad definition of tapering the study considers three tapering scenarios within a Dynamic Stochastic Equilibrium Model: A reduction of net purchases in the...

Although macroeconomic effects of asset purchases are intensively discussed, the literature addressing "tapering" is rather thin. Using a broad definition of tapering the study considers three tapering scenarios within a Dynamic Stochastic Equilibrium Model: A reduction of net purchases in the...

We construct a narrative instrument for government investment from official records in Germany. Using structural vector autoregressions, we document a significant crowding-in of private investment and an output multiplier of roughly 2. Then, we match a New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general...

Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis, in the euro area investment is still below the pre-crisis level. Public and private investment growth is so weak that capital per worker (capital intensity) has virtually remained constant. An increase in public investment activity could ultimately...

The system of capital taxation consists of two instruments, namely a tax on profits and a depreciation allowance on investment. We will show in this paper that by acting on both instruments simultaneously it is possible to achieve both a growth and a fiscal net revenue target even in cases when...