This paper deals with the question whether the automatic fiscal stabilisers are strong enough to solve the problem of asymmetric shocks in the Euro area. The question is important for many reasons, for instance in terms of policy coordination and fiscal federalism. The paper reviews the current...

This paper analyses the productivity of public expenditures. It follows the branch of literature originated by Aschauer but has also some novel features. First of all, it focuses on the effect of both public investment and public consumption (investment part of public consumption) on private...

This paper investigates the adjustment of employment to population shocks in 22 OECD countries over the period 1960 - 1997. Most of the countries have experienced significant population shocks during that period. The speed of adjustment parameter is used as a measure of the functioning of the...