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Belgium: Selected Issues

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  • International Monetary Fund

Abstract

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the challenge of population aging for Belgium. It argues that the aging strategy should be broadened to include more explicitly the objective of raising employment rates to foster potential growth. The paper discusses assumptions underlying the official aging projections, and presents an alternative baseline scenario on the basis of unchanged policies. It discusses the feasibility of strategies that rely exclusively on either fiscal or labor market adjustment, and illustrates the benefits of a two-pronged strategy. The paper also examines employment effects of reductions in labor taxes in a wage-bargaining model.

Suggested Citation

  • International Monetary Fund, 2005. "Belgium: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2005/076, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfscr:2005/076
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Stockman, 2004. "Working Paper 11-04 - Personal income tax reform in Belgium : The short-, medium-and long-run impact on wages, employment and value added re-examined by LABMOD," Working Papers 0411, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    2. Jeanfils, P., 2000. "A Model with Explicit Expectations for Belgium," Papers 4, Warwick - Development Economics Research Centre.
    3. Stephen Nickell, 2003. "Employment and Taxes," CESifo Working Paper Series 1109, CESifo.
    4. International Monetary Fund, 2001. "Belgium: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2001/045, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Edward C. Prescott, 2004. "Why do Americans work so much more than Europeans?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 28(Jul), pages 2-13.
    6. David Carey, 2003. "Tax Reform in Belgium," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 354, OECD Publishing.
    7. Nickell, Stephen & Layard, Richard, 1999. "Labor market institutions and economic performance," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 46, pages 3029-3084, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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