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Mad about Austerity? The Effect of Fiscal Consolidation on Public Opinion

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  • ANNA KALBHENN
  • LIVIO STRACCA

Abstract

We explore the impact of fiscal austerity on three different dimensions of public opinion in 26 European Union countries (consumer confidence, attitude toward national authorities, and European institutions) on annual data between 1997 and 2017. Our main finding is that the independent effect of a tighter fiscal stance on public opinion is not large and, when present, seems to closely follow the impact of fiscal austerity on economic activity. Our results therefore are inconsistent with the view that fiscal austerity necessarily implies a negative effect on public opinion and a decline in popularity of national and European institutions.

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  • Anna Kalbhenn & Livio Stracca, 2020. "Mad about Austerity? The Effect of Fiscal Consolidation on Public Opinion," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(2-3), pages 531-548, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jmoncb:v:52:y:2020:i:2-3:p:531-548
    DOI: 10.1111/jmcb.12687
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Thibault Lemaire, 2020. "Fiscal Consolidations and Informality in Latin America and the Caribbean," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 20004, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    2. Ostrihoň, Filip, 2022. "Exploring macroeconomic imbalances through EU Alert Mechanism Reports," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. Hayley Pallan, 2022. "Sovereign Spreads and Corporate Taxation," IHEID Working Papers 15-2022, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    4. Markus Eller & Branimir Jovanovic & Thomas Scheiber, 2021. "What do people in CESEE think about public debt?," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q3/21, pages 35-58.

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