EconPol Policy Reports

EconPol Policy Reports conduct comprehensive economic analysis on current European economic and fiscal policy issues, fostering a deeper understanding of European economic development and the implications of policy measures. The reports provide valuable insights into policy scenarios and the impact of economic policies, facilitating informed public discussions and evidence-based policy making. EconPol‘s mission is to contribute to the crafting of effective economic policy in the face of the rapidly evolving challenges faced by the European economies and their global partners and to provide well-founded advice to European policymakers.

The European Added Value of the Recovery and Resilience Facility

An Assessment of the Austrian, Belgian and German Plans

Francesco Corti, Daniel Gros, Tomas Ruiz, Alessandro Liscai, Tamas Kiss-Galfalvi, David Gstrein, Elena Herold, Mathias Dolls, Clemens Fuest

This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) of Austria, Belgium, and Germany. Exploiting a detailed database that covers all the investments and reforms included in the NRRPs and building on insights from semi-structured expert interviews, we study their alignment with EU objectives, the additionality of the spending, and the cross-border effects. We find that all three NRRPs are well aligned with the objectives defined in the RRF Regulation but differ greatly in terms of additionality. Cross-border projects are only of limited importance. We finally highlight some missed opportunities for other cross-border projects.

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German-Chinese Trade Relations: How Dependent is the German Economy on China?

Andreas Baur and Lisandra Flach

In recent decades, China has risen to become Germany’s most important trading partner for international trade in goods. Has Germany become too dependent from trade with China? An analysis using direct and indirect value-added linkages along the supply chain shows that China plays an important, but by no means dominant role for Germany as a supplier or destination market. However, in a survey conducted by the ifo Institute, 46% of German firms in the manufacturing sector state that they currently depend on important intermediate inputs from China. Of those, almost half of the firms are planning to reduce imports from China in the future. The most frequently mentioned reasons for reducing imports from China are the desire to decrease dependencies and increase diversification, increased freight costs and disruptions in transportation, as well as political uncertainty. An analysis at the product level shows that the German economy depends on several critical industrial goods and raw materials from China.

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Moving From Broad to Targeted Pandemic Fiscal Support

Heinemann, Friedrich

This paper conceptualizes an appropriate path for fiscal policy starting from the early phase of the pandemic up to the final transition to a post-pandemic new normal. Using this yardstick, it assesses the initial fiscal response of Member States. It exploits fiscal projections and program data to analyze the adjustment to the economic recovery. For loan guarantee and short-time work schemes, it identifies program-specific parameters that improve target precision and identifies examples of more and less convincing program designs.

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What if? The Economic Effects for Germany of a Stop of Energy Imports from Russia

Bachmann, Rüdiger / Baqaee, David / Bayer, Christian / Kuhn, Moritz / Löschel, Andreas / Moll, Benjamin / Peichl, Andreas / Pittel, Karen / Schularick, Moritz

This article discusses the economic effects of a potential cut-off of the German economy from Russian energy imports. We show that the effects are likely to be substantial but manageable. In the short run, a stop of Russian energy imports would lead to a GDP decline in range between 0.5% and 3% (cf. the GDP decline in 2020 during the pandemic was 4.5%).

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Planned Fiscal Consolidation and Under-Estimated Multipliers: Revisiting the Evidence and Relevance for the Euro Area

Daniel Gros, Alessandro Liscai and Farzaneh Shamsfakhr

The Great Financial Crisis caused a deep recession and led to very large public deficits. When financial market tensions erupted, many European countries were forced to reduce their deficits. This ‘austerity’ is often credited with the disappointingly slow recovery during the years after the financial crisis. One reason for such a slow recovery could have been that the impact of a reduction in the fiscal deficits is larger than anticipated during a recession, especially if it is accompanied by financial market tensions. At the height of the financial crisis and in its immediate aftermath, this might not have been properly taken into account.

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