How does fiscal austerity impact on poverty and inequality? The Spanish case

The aim of this paper is contributing to fill the gap between the macroeconomic effects of policy reforms and the microeconomic and social ones, considering simultaneously both kind of impacts. Regarding fiscal adjustments, concern about the sustainability of public deficit and debt resulting from the Great Recession led governments to adopt austerity measures in most European countries. Our analysis considers the redistributive effects of such adjustments for the Spanish economy by simulating a hypothetical reduction of public deficit and distinguishing between spending cuts and tax hikes. In terms of analytical approach, a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model and a microsimulation model are integrated to include the general equilibrium effects of these measures as well as the effects on income distribution. The results contribute to the growing but limited literature on the distributional effects of fiscal consolidations by showing that policymakers have to choose between more inequality or more poverty.

IMPACT OF EXTERNAL DEBT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Following the rising spate of the debt profile of Nigeria and the fluctuating trend in her macroeconomic indicators, this study critically examined the impact of external debt on economic growth in Nigeria in the period, 1985 to 2019 by examining the causality between external debt stock and economic growth in Nigeria and identify the impact of external debt servicing on economic growth in Nigeria. The study employed the Harrod-Domar theory of economic growth and the Two-Gap model as theoretical framework to explain the impact of external debt on economic growth in Nigeria. The study made use of secondary data sourced from World Development Indicator 2019. Ordinary least square (OLS) technique was adopted for the regression analysis. The data were analyzed with the aid of e-view software (9th edition). The result showed that external debt has negative and insignificant impact on economic growth in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommended the use of tax revenue to finance public deficit, encouragement of foreign direct investment and domestic investment through improvement in infrastructural facilities and an enabling environment devoid of political and economic instability. JEL: E32, E41, F33, F34, F43 <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0892/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

AUXÍLIO EMERGENCIAL - IMPACTOS NA RENDA E NO ICMS

The literature has shown that public policy programs based on social protection for the most needy, provide a reduction in income inequalities, as long as these policies bring neutrality to fiscal policy, that is, they do not increase the public deficit. The instruments of social protection, especially those of direct income transfer to the most needy, may result in an increase in consumption by the poorest classes, and consequently an improvement in tax revenue, especially in the collection of ICMS, consumption tax . So, we intend to show here that emergency aid, which is a temporary income transfer program implemented by the Federal Government to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, had direct implications for the economy; especially in improving the income of the most needy and a return, in part of the benefit, to the revenues of the States, in the form of taxation. Said Emergency Aid minimized the drop in collection, or even maintained the collection levels of ICMS, the most important tax of the States, which contributed to the revenue of these federated entities. As a result of the fiscal problems caused, Emergency Aid heated the economy and boosted consumption in order to keep the state ICMS tax collection at even higher levels, in many states, compared to the pre-pandemic period. The objective is to outline an empirical strategy to measure the impact that the emergency aid had on the collection of ICMS, that is, to measure the sensitivity of the variation of the ICMS of the States due to the injection of resources of this transfer program.

Economics of Education after Covid

This article looks at the influence of financial accounting procedures on the way that investment in education is conceptualized. This field has been dominated by the idea that investment in public institutions should be seen as contributing to the public deficit, and accounting arrangements that reduce a current charge on the public purse encouraged. Drawing on the work of Kelton and Mazzucato, the authors argue that this thinking will be a blight on educational spending in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, and that a more thorough-going debate is urgently needed to secure the future of education.

Supreme Audit Institutions and Sustainability of Public Finance. Links and Evidence along the Economic Cycles

Against the backdrop of concerns for diminishing the vulnerabilities of the economies of the Member States, the EU has adopted measures to strengthen budgetary discipline and control of the public deficit. In this context, the responsibility of government institutions has increased, not only in ensuring the sustainability of public finances but also in direct or indirect cooperation for good economic governance. From this perspective, this study aims to assess the impact of macroeconomic variables and those associated with supreme audit institutions on the sustainability of public finances measured by the size and dynamics of government deficit and gross public debt. Additionally, the impact of the same variables on governmental effectiveness and control of corruption has also been assessed. The data collected from secondary sources and panel data models were used to conduct an empirical study of the EU Member States which covered the 2002–2019 period and the sub-periods, divided as follows: pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis. The results of the study show that supreme audit institutions, through their organizational structure, the nature of their activities, and professionalism, may contribute to the reduction of public deficit and gross public debt and, implicitly, to higher efficiency and control of corruption. The results of analyses for the sub-periods show that ISAs played a more important role in reducing government deficit during crisis and post-crisis periods. By confirming or rejecting the results of the few studies that have been conducted so far, this study provides additional evidence that fills the gaps in the literature.

Determinantes de la presión fiscal de las empresas societarias españolas por el impuesto de sociedades durante la crisis económica (2008-2015)

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo fundamental analizar los determinantes de la presión fiscal de las empresas españolas en la época reciente y, en especial, si en una época de fuerte crisis económica, como la Gran Recesión, las grandes empresas con más rentabilidad han ejercido su poder político para reducir sus costes fiscales o si, por el contrario, han soportado una parte del coste político en forma de más impuestos. Para el análisis utilizamos el tipo impositivo efectivo (TIE) del Impuesto de Sociedades (IS), tomando como variables determinantes del TIE las establecidas por cada una de las dos hipótesis señaladas: tamaño y rentabilidad económica. Además, incluimos como variables de control el endeudamiento y la intensidad de capital. Utilizamos una regresión econométrica siguiendo el Método Generalizado de los Momentos de Arellano-Bover (System GMM), para una muestra de 3.362 empresas, extraída aleatoriamente de la base SABI, con datos referidos al periodo 2008-15, con valores totales y segregando por sectores productivos y obtenemos como resultado que se tiende a cumplir la hipótesis del coste político, tanto a nivel general de la economía como en la mayoría de sectores, lo que, entre otras causas, asociamos a la presión del Gobierno por controlar el déficit público durante la crisis. Además, analizamos si la carga fiscal por el IS resulta diferente según el sector o la residencia fiscal, mediante un análisis estadístico. En este caso los resultados muestran que aquellos sectores con mayores niveles de capitalización registran TIE más bajos y que aquellos más intensivos en mano de obra tienen TIE más altos. En cuanto a la C.A. de residencia, el único resultado estadísticamente significativo es la existencia de un mayor TIE en Madrid que en el resto de Comunidades, debido a la domiciliación fiscal de las empresas más importantes y grandes en la capital. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the determinants of Spanish company tax burden in recent times and, in particular, to ascertain whether at a time of deep economic crisis, such as the Great Recession, larger and more profitable companies exert their political power in order to reduce their fiscal costs or whether, by contrast, they bear part of the political costs in the form of more taxes. For the analysis, we use the effective tax rate (ETR) of Corporation Tax (CT), taking as ETR determinant variables those established by each of the two hypotheses indicated: size and economic profitability. In addition, we include indebtedness and capital intensity as control variables. We use econometric regression, following the Arellano-Bover Generalized Method of Moments (GMM System) for a sample of 3,362 companies, randomly extracted from the SABI base, drawing on data for the 2008-15 period, with total values and segregating by production sectors. We find that the political cost hypothesis tends to be fulfilled, both at a general level of the economy and in most sectors. Among other causes, we associate this to government pressure to control public deficit during the crisis. Using statistical analysis, we also examine whether the tax burden for CT differs depending on the sector or fiscal residence in question. In this case, results show that sectors with higher levels of capitalization evidence a lower ETR and that those which are more labour intensive display a higher ETR. As for the region of residence, the only statistically significant result is the existence of a greater ETR in Madrid than in the rest of the regions, due to the fiscal domicile of the largest and most important companies being seated in the capital.

La decadencia española del siglo XVII: La Escuela Austriaca de Economía y la interpretación de la crisis

The Decline of the Spanish seventeenth century was a deep crisis, with dramatic consequences for the population. Many authors consider the costs of the Spanish imperial politics, defense and commercial monopoly of the Catholic faith, the continuing conflict with France for hegemony in Europe, with England for the defense of American monopoly or the Ottoman Empire for control Mediterranean, as the main causes. However, the un-controlled expansion of the money supply due to the precious metals from America, the use of credit to finance the huge deficits of the Spanish Monarchy and monetary changes, coupled with government intervention offered, from the perspective offered Austrian Theory of Economic Cycle, a new interpretation. Austerity policies, control of public expenditure, reducing the tax burden and reorganization of the monetary system, initiated in the late seventeenth century, stabilized the economy and allowed to return to a path of sustained growth. Key words: Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Disturbances, Public Deficit, State Interventionism, Recession, Stagflation. JEL Classification: E3, E4, E5, H3, H6, N1. Resumen: La Decadencia Española del siglo XVII fue una crisis profunda, con unas consecuencias dramáticas para la población. Muchos autores consideran a los costes de la política imperial española, la defensa del monopolio comercial y de la fe católica, el conflicto permanente con Francia por la hegemonía en Europa, con Inglaterra por la defensa del monopolio americano o con el Imperio Otomano por el control del Mediterráneo, como las causas principales. Sin embargo, la expansión descontrolada de la masa monetaria debida a los metales preciosos procedentes de América, el recurso al crédito para financiar los gigantescos déficits públicos de la Monarquía Hispánica y las alteraciones monetarias, unidas al interven-cionismo del gobierno ofrecen, desde la perspectiva que ofrece la Teoría Austriaca del Ciclo Económico, una nueva interpretación. Las políticas de austeridad, control del gasto público, reducción de la presión fiscal y re-organización del sistema monetario, emprendidas a finales del siglo XVII, estabilizaron la economía y permitieron regresar a una senda de crecimiento sostenido. Palabras clave: Política Monetaria, Política Fiscal, Alteraciones Monetarias, Déficit Público, Intervencionismo Estatal, Recesión, Estanflación. Clasificación JEL: E3, E4, E5, H3, H6, N1.