Social Science > Emigration and Immigration

You are looking at 1 - 5 of 5 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
Clear All Modify Search
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This paper reviews two main issues pertaining to Austrian economy: (1) Austria's long-term fiscal sustainability in light of current tax and expenditure trends, and (2) Austria's macroeconomic challenges and opportunities due to immigration. To maintain fiscal sustainability over the longer run, Austria needs to implement a strategy based on structural expenditure consolidation. Attention to the structure of Austrian taxes and expenditure is germane because this displays important differences vis-á-vis European peers. In 2015, Austria has recorded about 90,000 asylum applicants, making it one of the top three host countries relative to its population. Austria attracts immigrant populations that improve the characteristics of its labor force.
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
The 2015 Article IV Consultation discusses the key issues related to the economy of Austria. Austria has recovered from the global financial crisis, but the crisis still remains in bank and public sector balance sheets. Major banks have been striving to strengthen their capital and profitability positions amid regulatory and supervisory reforms. Despite lackluster growth, economic slack is limited as potential growth has fallen as well. The governing coalition of Social Democrats and the right-of-center People's Party holds a constructive dialogue on economic policy issues. Growth is estimated at 0.7 percent in 2015, a slight improvement over the ½ percent average in 2012–14, on the back of strengthening external and domestic demand.
Mr. Shekhar Aiyar
,
Ms. Bergljot B Barkbu
,
Nicoletta Batini
,
Mr. Helge Berger
,
Ms. Enrica Detragiache
,
Allan Dizioli
,
Mr. Christian H Ebeke
,
Ms. Huidan Huidan Lin
,
Ms. Linda Kaltani
,
Mr. Sebastian Sosa
,
Mr. Antonio Spilimbergo
, and
Petia Topalova
Against the background of political turmoil in the Middle-East, Europe faces an unprecedented surge in asylum applications. In analyzing the economic impact of this inflow, this paper draws from the experience of previous economic migrants and refugees, mindful of the fact that the characteristics of economic migrants can be different from refugees. In the short-run, additional public expenditure will provide a small positive impact on GDP, concentrated in the main destination countries of Germany, Sweden and Austria. Over the longer-term, depending on the speed and success of the integration of refugees in the labor market, the increase in the labor force can have a more lasting impact on growth and the public finances. Here good policies will make an important difference. These include lowering barriers to labor markets for refugees, for example through wage subsidies to employers, and, in particular, reducing legal barriers to labor market participation during asylum process, removing obstacles to entrepreneurship/self-employment, providing job training and job search assistance, as well as language skills. While native workers often have legitimate concerns about the impact of immigrants on wages and employment, past experience indicates that any adverse effects are limited and temporary.
International Monetary Fund
This Selected Issues paper analyzes the growth prospects of the Greek economy. It is estimated that exceptional factors boosted growth by 1 percentage point per year in recent years and, under current trends and policies, growth is likely to drop to about 3 percent by the end of the decade. The paper places the recent strong growth performance of the Greek economy in a historical and international context. It also assesses the impact of exceptional factors on growth, and presents statistical estimates of potential growth.
International Monetary Fund
This Selected Issues paper for Austria looks at the fiscal burden facing Austria owing to aging, and the policy steps necessary to address it. It gives a short description of the Austrian pension, health care, and long-term care systems, and describes how aging will affect the costs of these systems. It then analyzes the development of age-related spending and the sustainability of general government finances under different scenarios, and quantifies the primary adjustment required to keep public finances on a sustainable path in the long term.