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Europe > Switzerland

You are looking at 1 - 9 of 9 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity x
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Cover IMF Working Papers
Firm Leverage and Boom-Bust Cycles
Can Sever
This paper explores the dynamic relationship between firm debt and real outcomes using data from 24 European economies over the period of 2000-2018. Based on macro data, it shows that a rise in credit to firms is associated with an increase in employment growth in the short-term, but employment growth declines in the medium-term. This pattern remains similar, even when the changes in credit to households are accounted for. Next, using data from a large sample of firms, it shows that firm leverage buildups predict similar boom-bust growth cycles in firm employment: Firms with a larger increase in leverage experience a boost in employment growth in the short-term, but employment growth decreases in the medium-term. Relatedly, the volatility of employment growth increases in the aftermath of firm leverage buildups. Finally, this paper provides suggestive evidence on the role of a financial channel in the relationship between firm leverage buildups and employment growth. The results show that a rise in firm leverage is associated with a persistently higher debt service ratio, pointing the drag on finances. Consistently, boom-bust growth cycles in the aftermath of firm leverage buildups are not limited to employment growth, but are also pronounced for investment. Moreover, the medium-term decline in firm employment growth as predicted by leverage buildups becomes even larger if aggregate financial conditions tighten. The findings are in favor of “lean against the wind” approach in policy making.
Keywords:
Firm leverage; firm debt; household debt; leverage cycles; employment; investment; boom-bust cycles; ORBIS; leverage buildup; employment growth; leverage cycle; growth cycle; cycles in the aftermath; Business cycles; Credit; Consumer credit; Credit booms; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Kingdom of the Netherlands—the Netherlands: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
Selected Issues
Keywords:
labor market slack; teaching staff; policy implication; support program; C. employment support scheme coverage; B. labor market development; efficiency frontier; education outcome; Employment; Education spending; Labor markets; COVID-19; Europe; North America; Caribbean; Global; Africa; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Working Papers
Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle?
Vizhdan Boranova
,
Raju Huidrom
,
Sylwia Nowak
,
Petia Topalova
,
Mr. Volodymyr Tulin
, and
Mr. Richard Varghese
Wages have been rising faster than productivity in many European countries for the past few years, yet signs of underlying consumer price pressures remain limited. To shed light on this puzzle, this paper examines the historical link between wage growth and inflation in Europe and factors that influence the strength of the passthrough from labor costs to prices. Historically, wage growth has led to higher inflation, but the impact has weakened since 2009. Empirical analysis suggests that the passthrough from wage growth to inflation is significantly lower in periods of subdued inflation and inflation expectations, greater competitive pressures, and robust corporate profitability. Thus the recent pickup in wage growth is likely to have a more muted impact on inflation than in the past.
Keywords:
WP; wage growth; inflation expectation; Wages; inflation; passthrough; Europe; Passthrough ratio; wage-inflation passthrough; firms' profitability; Labor costs; Producer prices; Wage adjustments; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Designing Sound Fiscal Relations Across Government Levels in Decentralized Countries
Robin Boadway
and
Luc Eyraud
This paper discusses how decentralized countries can achieve sound fiscal relations between the central government and lower government levels. The concepts of “vertical gap” and “vertical balance” provide an analytical framework for identifying and addressing key challenges. These concepts can help policymakers ensure that the financing of subnational governments (composed of transfers received from the center, own revenues, and borrowing) is both efficient and adequate given the allocation of spending responsibilities. More generally, the paper offers some perspectives about the optimal design of decentralization systems by examining the sequencing and economic principles underlying revenue and expenditure assignments, the use of transfers, and borrowing.
Keywords:
WP; national government; infrastructure project; expenditure responsibility; government health; vertical gap; fiscal federalism; vertical imbalance; fiscal balance; state revenue; government policy; subnational government; revenue decentralization; government arrears; Public employment; Fiscal stance; Northern Europe; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Okun's Law: Fit at 50?
Laurence M. Ball
,
Mr. Daniel Leigh
, and
Mr. Prakash Loungani
This paper asks how well Okun’s Law fits short-run unemployment movements in the United States since 1948 and in twenty advanced economies since 1980. We find that Okun’s Law isa strong and stable relationship in most countries, one that did not change substantiallyduring the Great Recession. Accounts of breakdowns in the Law, such as the emergence of“jobless recoveries,” are flawed. We also find that the coefficient in the relationship—the effect of a one percent change in output on the unemployment rate—varies substantially across countries. This variation is partly explained by idiosyncratic features of national labormarkets, but it is not related to differences in employment protection legislation.
Keywords:
WP; absolute value; Unemploymnent; Okun’s law; Economic fluctuations; Law captures factor; Law coefficient; unemployment rate; coefficient estimate; estimates of Okun's Law; unemployment-output relationship; unemployment-employment relation; Unemployment; Employment; Unemployment rate; Output gap; Employment protection
Cover International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal Reports, Volume II, 2000-2002
International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal Reports, Volume II, 2000-2002
Volume II, 2000-2002
International Monetary Fund

Abstract

This paper discusses that during 2000–2002, the Tribunal considered a number of issues of substantive law upon which it had not previously been called upon to rule. These included interpretation of a provision of the IMF’s Staff Retirement Plan that permits the IMF, pursuant to specified procedures, to give effect to orders for family support and division of marital property issued by domestic courts. Having the benefit of the extensive pleadings of all three parties, the Tribunal rendered a decision resolving the merits of the dispute. The Tribunal considered the evidence offered by the IMF in support of the differential in benefits between the two categories of staff and concluded that the distinction was rationally related to the purposes of the employment benefits at issue. Tribunal also grappled during 2000–2002 with the complexities of its relationship to other elements of the IMF’s dispute resolution system. The IMFAT addressed the question of the admissibility before the Tribunal of an Application following dismissal of the complaint as untimely by the IMF’s Grievance Committee.

Keywords:
MISC PUBS; Misc.; Applicant; court; estate of Mr; tribunal of the International Monetary Fund; rules of procedure; expatriate benefit; tribunal's rule; Administration in revenue administration; Legal support in revenue administration; Retirement; Human capital; Pensions; Africa; Asia and Pacific; Europe; associate judge; evacuation expense; Non-wage benefits; Employment
Cover IMF Working Papers
Product Market Regulation and the Benefits of Wage Moderation
Mr. Marcello M. Estevão
Euro-area real wages have decelerated sharply in the last 20 years, but this has not yet translated into visibly lower unemployment or faster growth. Weak output growth after such a cost shock is somewhat puzzling and has led some to question the benefits of wage moderation. By isolating structural from cyclical factors in a panel of industrial countries, I show that structurally slower real wage growth, that is, "wage moderation," does raise output growth and lower unemployment rates. However, I show that the impact on both variables depends crucially on product market regulation: weaker competition and barriers to entry mute the growth effects of structural real wage changes by allowing incumbent firms to appropriate larger rents. In this context, overly regulated product markets in the euro area are undermining the effects of labor market reforms on output and employment.
Keywords:
WP; product market; product market regulation; wage curve; labor market reform; Structural change; labor market; reforms; sequencing product market; wage-curve shift; product market reform; product market competition; Commodity markets; Wages; Wage bargaining; Unemployment rate; Real wages
Cover IMF Working Papers
Growth in Switzerland: Can Better Growth Be Sustained?
Mr. Anastassios Gagales
Swiss growth performance in the past quarter century has been mediocre. The paper finds that conditional income convergence contributes significantly to slow growth and the poor performance of the domestically oriented sectors has been a drag on growth. However, slow growth is not inescapable. Faster growth would require raising total factor productivity growth, which remains low by international standards, and the investment rate. Further progress in structural reform could sustain the underlying growth rate at about 2 percent in the next few years.
Keywords:
WP; productivity growth; Switzerland; economic growth; investment rate; high-productivity sector; productivity gain; enterprise restructuring; aggregate productivity growth; Productivity; Total factor productivity; Labor productivity; Manufacturing; Employment; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Switzerland: Recent Economic Developments
International Monetary Fund
This paper describes economic developments in Switzerland during the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1993, real GDP fell by a cumulative 1¼ percent. The tightening of monetary policy in response to rising inflation in the late 1980s induced a contraction in domestic demand that sent the economy into decline in 1991. This decline was prolonged by the downturn of other European economies during 1992–93, although the latter had only a modest effect on Swiss exports, which continued to grow slowly.
Keywords:
nominal GDP; exchange rate; fourth quarter; current account; real GDP; output gap; official development assistance; Monetary base; Employment; Unemployment; Short term interest rates; Current account surpluses; Europe; Global; price deflator; equity price; staff team of the International Monetary Fund; IMF UR; factor income balance; consumer confidence; Economic recession; Inflation