The confidence effects of fiscal consolidations

Massimo Giuliodori, Roel Beetsma, Jacopo Cimadomo and Oana Furtuna

No 1770, Working Paper Series from European Central Bank

Abstract: We explore how fiscal consolidations affect private sector confidence, a possible channel for the fiscal transmission that has received particular attention recently as a result of governments embarking on austerity trajectories in the aftermath of the crisis. Panel regressions based on the action-based datasets of De Vries et al. (2011) and Alesina et al. (2014) show that consolidations, and in particular their unanticipated components affect confidence negatively. The effects are stronger for revenue-based measures and when institutional arrangements, such as fiscal rules, are weak. To obtain a more accurate picture of how consolidations affect confidence, we construct a monthly dataset of consolidation announcements based on the aforementioned datasets, so that we can study the confidence effects in real time using an event study. Consumer confidence falls around announcements of consolidation measures, an effect driven by revenue-based measures. Moreover, the effects are most relevant for European countries with weak institutional arrangements, as measured by the tightness of fiscal rules or budgetary transparency. The effects on producer confidence are generally similar, but weaker than for consumer confidence. Long-term interest rates, as a measure of confidence in the sovereign, tend to fall around spending-based consolidation announcements that take place in slump periods. Overall, if confidence is a concern and consolidation is unavoidable, spending-based measures seem preferable. Slump periods are not necessarily bad moments for such measures, while strengthening institutional arrangements may help in mitigating adverse confidence effects. JEL Classification: H60, H61, H62

Keywords: announcements; consolidation plans; consumer- and business confidence; event study; institutional quality; long-term interest rates; revenues; spending (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-03
Note: 352854
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The confidence effects of fiscal consolidations (2015)
Working Paper: The Confidence Effects of Fiscal Consolidations (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20151770

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