IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/onb/oenbmp/y2014i4b2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Common European Unemployment Insurance – A Much Debated Route toward European Fiscal Union

Author

Listed:

Abstract

The crisis has reignited a debate on deeper fiscal integration in the euro area. The goal is to improve the capability of the currency union to cope with asymmetric shocks. One instrument in this context is the implementation of a European unemployment insurance (EUI) scheme aiming at automatic stabilization of income and aggregate output in countries affected by adverse macroeconomic shocks and rising unemployment. Recently, a number of proposals and estimates of the economic effects of such a scheme have been published. The empirical analyses indicate a non-negligible stabilization effect of an EUI. However, an EUI is likely to face several problems originating, among other things, from structural differences in labor markets and potential moral hazard by Member States. An EUI therefore does not appear to be the most appropriate approach to increasing common risk sharing.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Beer & Walpurga Köhler-Töglhofer & Alfred Stiglbauer, 2014. "A Common European Unemployment Insurance – A Much Debated Route toward European Fiscal Union," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 4, pages 35-52.
  • Handle: RePEc:onb:oenbmp:y:2014:i:4:b:2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.oenb.at/dam/jcr:f71716c9-0b12-4a2a-9638-692a7bb099a2/mop_2014_q4_analyses_2.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stovicek, Klara & Turrini, Alessandro, 2012. "Benchmarking Unemployment Benefits in the EU," IZA Policy Papers 43, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Davide Furceri & Aleksandra Zdzienicka, 2015. "The Euro Area Crisis: Need for a Supranational Fiscal Risk Sharing Mechanism?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 683-710, September.
    3. Pierfederico Asdrubali & Bent E. Sørensen & Oved Yosha, 1996. "Channels of Interstate Risk Sharing: United States 1963–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 111(4), pages 1081-1110.
    4. Bent E. S�rensen & Oved Yosha, 1998. "International Risk Sharing and European Monetary Unification," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 327, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Paul de Grauwe, 2013. "Design Failures in the Eurozone: Can they be fixed?," Europe in Question Discussion Paper Series of the London School of Economics (LEQs) 7, London School of Economics / European Institute.
    6. Sorensen, Bent E. & Yosha, Oved, 1998. "International risk sharing and European monetary unification," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 211-238, August.
    7. Paul Krugman, 2013. "Revenge of the Optimum Currency Area," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 439-448.
    8. Emmanuel Farhi & Iván Werning, 2017. "Fiscal Unions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(12), pages 3788-3834, December.
    9. Xavier Jara Tamayo, Holguer & Sutherland, Holly, 2014. "The implications of an EMU unemployment insurance scheme for supporting incomes," EUROMOD Working Papers EM5/14, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    10. Sebastian Dullien & Ferdinand Fichtner, 2013. "A Common Unemployment Insurance System for the Euro Area," DIW Economic Bulletin, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 3(1), pages 9-14.
    11. Dolls, Mathias & Fuest, Clemens & Neumann, Dirk & Peichl, Andreas, 2014. "An Unemployment Insurance Scheme for the Euro Area," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100572, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. Grégory Claeys & Zsolt Darvas & Guntram B. Wolff, 2014. "Benefits and drawbacks of European Unemployment Insurance," Policy Briefs 847, Bruegel.
    13. Boeri, Tito, 2011. "Institutional Reforms and Dualism in European Labor Markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 13, pages 1173-1236, Elsevier.
    14. De Grauwe, Paul, 2016. "Economics of Monetary Union," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 11, number 9780198739876.
    15. Obstfeld, Maurice & Peri, Giovanni, 1998. "Regional Nonadjustment and Fiscal Policy: Lessons for EMU," Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Working Papers 233615, University of California-Berkeley, Department of Economics.
    16. Wallace E. Oates & Wallace E. Oates, 2004. "An Essay on Fiscal Federalism," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 22, pages 384-414, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Peter Diamond, 2013. "Cyclical Unemployment, Structural Unemployment," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(3), pages 410-455, August.
    18. Acemoglu, Daron & Parker, Jonathan A. & Woodford, Michael (ed.), 2013. "NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2012," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226052779, July.
    19. Kevin H. O'Rourke & Alan M. Taylor, 2013. "Cross of Euros," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 167-192, Summer.
    20. Palme, Joakim, 2013. "Unemployment Benefits in EU Member States," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2013:15, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    21. Sebastian Dullien & Ferdinand Fichtner & Peter Haan & Laslo Jaeger & Max Jansen & Richard Ochmann & Erik Tomasch, 2014. "Eine Arbeitslosenversicherung für den Euroraum als automatischer Stabilisator: Grenzen und Möglichkeiten," DIW Berlin: Politikberatung kompakt, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, volume 86, number pbk86, Enero-Abr.
    22. Paul Krugman, 2012. "Revenge of the Optimum Currency Area," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2012, Volume 27, pages 439-448, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Christian Keuschnigg, 2012. "Should Europe Become a Fiscal Union?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(01), pages 35-43, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Doris Prammer & Lukas Reiss, 2018. "How to increase fiscal stabilization at the euro area level?," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q2/18, pages 111-131.
    2. Christian Beer & Walter Waschiczek, 2018. "Capital markets union: a more diverse financial landscape in the EU?," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q2/18, pages 71-86.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabrizio Balassone & Sandro Momigliano & Marzia Romanelli & Pietro Tommasino, 2018. "Just Round the Corner? Pros, Cons, and Implementation Issues of a Fiscal Union for the Euro Area," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 5-34.
    2. Mathias Dolls & Clemens Fuest & Dirk Neumann & Andreas Peichl, 2018. "An unemployment insurance scheme for the euro area? A comparison of different alternatives using microdata," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(1), pages 273-309, February.
    3. Cimadomo, Jacopo & Ciminelli, Gabriele & Furtuna, Oana & Giuliodori, Massimo, 2020. "Private and public risk sharing in the euro area," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    4. Eiji Fujii, 2017. "Government Size, Trade Openness, and Output Volatility: A Case of fully Integrated Economies," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 661-684, September.
    5. Moyen, Stéphane & Stähler, Nikolai & Winkler, Fabian, 2019. "Optimal unemployment insurance and international risk sharing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 144-171.
    6. Bofinger, Peter & Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Schnabel, Isabel & Wieland, Volker, 2018. "Vor wichtigen wirtschaftspolitischen Weichenstellungen. Jahresgutachten 2018/19 [Setting the Right Course for Economic Policy. Annual Report 2018/19]," Annual Economic Reports / Jahresgutachten, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, volume 127, number 201819.
    7. Leila E. Davis & Charalampos Konstantinidis & Yorghos Tripodis, 2017. "A proposal for a federalized unemployment insurance mechanism for Europe," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(1), pages 92-116, April.
    8. Henryk Bak & Sebastian Maciejewski, 2015. "Asymmetric shocks and international risk sharing in the European Monetary Union and the European Union," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 46(6), pages 523-564.
    9. Paolo D’Imperio & Waltraud Schelkle, 2017. "What Difference Would a Capital Markets Union Make for Risk-Sharing in the EU?," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 86(2), pages 77-88.
    10. Beetsma, Roel & Cima, Simone & Cimadomo, Jacopo, 2018. "A minimal moral hazard central stabilisation capacity for the EMU based on world trade," CEPR Discussion Papers 12600, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Léo Aparisi de Lannoy & Xavier Ragot, 2017. "Une (ré) assurance chômage européenne," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03455381, HAL.
    12. Alcidi, Cinzia & D’Imperio, Paolo & Thirion, Gilles, 2023. "Risk-sharing and consumption-smoothing patterns in the US and the Euro Area: A comprehensive comparison," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 58-69.
    13. Alcidi, Cinzia & Thirion, Gilles, 2017. "Fiscal Risk Sharing and Resilience to Shocks: Lessons for the euro area from the US," CEPS Papers 12595, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    14. Andrea Brandolini & Francesca Carta & Francesco D'Amuri, 2016. "A Feasible Unemployment-Based Shock Absorber for the Euro Area," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 1123-1141, September.
    15. Verstegen, Loes & Meijdam, Lex, 2016. "The Effectiveness of a Fiscal Transfer Mechanism in a Monetary Union : A DSGE Model for the Euro Area," Discussion Paper 2016-023, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    16. Marius Clemens & Guillaume Claveres, 2017. "Unemployment Insurance Union," 2017 Meeting Papers 1340, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. Etienne Farvaque & Florence Huart, 2017. "A policymaker’s guide to a Euro area stabilization fund," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 34(1), pages 11-30, April.
    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5i0jcpu6sk96cpn76n8q0ie20c is not listed on IDEAS
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/69i5rbio799im94rhg5il9bvik is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Heikki Oksanen, 2016. "Smoothing Asymmetric Shocks vs. Redistribution in the Euro Area: A Simple Proposal for Dealing with Mistrust in the Euro Area," CESifo Working Paper Series 5817, CESifo.
    21. Balli, Faruk & Pericoli, Filippo M. & Pierucci, Eleonora, 2018. "Globalization and international risk-sharing: The role of social and political integration," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 324-345.
    22. Dashkeev, Vladimir V & Turnovsky, Stephen J, 2018. "Balanced-budget rules and risk-sharing in a fiscal union," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 277-298.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Automatic stabilization; unemployment insurance; monetary union; fiscal union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • F45 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Macroeconomic Issues of Monetary Unions
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:onb:oenbmp:y:2014:i:4:b:2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rita Glaser-Schwarz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/oenbbat.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.