Ruhr Economic Papers

Ruhr Economic Papers #661
Measuring Fiscal Spillovers in EMU and Beyond: A Global VAR Approach
by Ansgar Belke and Thomas Osowski
UDE, 10/2016, 50 S./p., 8 Euro, ISBN 978-3-86788-767-0 DOI: 10.4419/86788767
downloadAbstract
This paper identifies and measures fiscal spillovers in the EU countries empirically using a global vector autoregression (GVAR) model. Our aim is to look at the sign and the absolute values of fiscal spillovers in a country-wise perspective and at the time profile (impulse response) of the impacts of fiscal shocks. We find moderate spillover effects of fiscal policy shocks originating in Germany and France. However, there is significant variation regarding magnitude of the spillovers among destination countries and country clusters. Furthermore, we find some evidence that spillovers generated by German or French fiscal spillovers are stronger for EMU than non-EMU countries in Europe.
JEL-Classification: C50, E61, F15, F42
Keywords: EMU versus “Rest of Europe”; fiscal policy coordination; fiscal spillovers; GVAR analysis; regional shocks; impulse response analysis; trade weights