Bringing macroeconomics back into the political economy of reform: the Lisbon Agenda and the ‘fiscal philosophy’ of EMU

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

June 1, 2007

Summary:

The Lisbon Strategy supports reform of Member States' tax-benefit
systems while the ‘fiscal philosophy’ of the EMU postulates that
governments should allow only automatic stabilizers, built into
tax-benefit systems, to smooth aggregate income. We ask whether these
two pillars of EU economic governance are compatible. By exploring how
structural reforms affect fiscal stabilization, we complement a
political economy literature that asks whether fiscal consolidation
fosters or hinders structural reforms. Using EUROMOD, a tax-benefit
model for the EU-15, we identify the connections between specific tax
and benefit reforms and the size of the stabilizers. We conclude that
Lisbon-type reforms may worsen the stabilizing capacity of tax-benefit
systems.

Published in

Journal of Common Market Studies

Volume

Volume: 45 (1): 81-103

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2007.00704.x

Subjects

Notes

Albert Sloman Library Periodicals *restricted to Univ. Essex registered users*


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