News Archive

An analysis of the proposals and international implications around taxing digital platforms such as Facebook and Google concludes that the European Commission’s proposed digital services tax (DST) addresses the concerns shared by policy makers: but, says author Marko Köthenbürger (EconPol Europe, ETH Zurich), there should be a more stringent definition of the digital platforms that are subjected to such a tax.

The ‘Green Deal’ in its objective is highly ambitious and will absorb substantive financial resources, so it is not surprising that the potential role of higher public debt is being discussed: the European Central Bank is increasingly requested to provide green finance through its asset purchase programmes and similar suggestions are being made in national debates. But does an ambitious climate policy really provide compelling arguments for higher public debt?

In this working paper, António Afonso (EconPol Europe; ISEG – School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa; REM – Research in Economics and Mathematics, UECE) and Nuno Verdial (ISEG – School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa) analyze the events of the 2007/2008 financial crisis and European sovereign debt crisis with a focus on Portugal and Spain. They find that that the pricing of sovereign risk changed with the crisis and the “whatever it takes” speech of Mario Draghi.

The share of income shocks absorbed by the tax and transfer system in the Eurozone declined from 48 percent in 2008 to 24 percent in 2011: for some of the countries most affected by the crisis, the stabilization effect was even negative in some years of the crisis, implying that the tax and transfer system amplified income shocks.

This report analyzes self-selection and motivations of emigrants from Denmark, one of the richest and most redistributive welfare states in the world. Authors Ilpo Kauppinen (EconPol Europe, VATT Institute for Economic Research), Till Nikolka (EconPol Europe, ifo Institute, LMU Munich) and Panu Poutvaara (EconPol Europe, ifo Institute, LMU Munich) present evidence on how migrants are self-selected with respect to their education, earnings, and unobservable abilities, measured by residual earnings.