Reconciling Insurance with Market Discipline: A Blueprint for a European Fiscal Union

27 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2016

See all articles by Mathias Dolls

Mathias Dolls

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Clemens Fuest

ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich; Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich; Center for Economic Studies (CES)

Friedrich Heinemann

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research; University of Heidelberg - Alfred Weber Institute for Economics

Andreas Peichl

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research; University of Mannheim - School of Economics (VWL); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; University of Essex - Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)

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Date Written: February 22, 2016

Abstract

This contribution develops a blueprint for a European fiscal union. We argue that a viable European fiscal union can be constructed without joint liability for public debt or a centralized government with a large common budget. Such a fiscal union should combine elements of market discipline with stabilisation in case of asymmetric shocks. Our proposal addresses the shortcomings of most other reform designs, which fail to offer a solution for insolvent or non-cooperative euro countries. We suggest a design which combines limited fiscal insurance with an orderly procedure to restructure the debt of insolvent member states. We show that fiscal insurance and a sovereign insolvency procedure are no contradiction but, on the contrary, are mutually reinforcing. Effective fiscal insurance helps to limit the stability risks involved in the implementation of an insolvency regime for sovereigns. And vice versa, a well-defined insolvency procedure reduces the risk that a fiscal capacity motivated as an insurance against transitory asymmetric shocks degenerates into a permanent transfer system. Moreover, we show that both elements promote the functioning of the European banking union and the new European fiscal governance.

Keywords: sovereign insolvency procedure, European unemployment insurance, euro area debt crisis

JEL Classification: H870, H120

Suggested Citation

Dolls, Mathias and Fuest, Clemens and Heinemann, Friedrich and Peichl, Andreas, Reconciling Insurance with Market Discipline: A Blueprint for a European Fiscal Union (February 22, 2016). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5767, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2752376 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2752376

Mathias Dolls (Contact Author)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
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Germany

Clemens Fuest

ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE 81679
Germany
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Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich ( email )

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Germany

Center for Economic Studies (CES) ( email )

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++89 2180-17845 (Fax)

Friedrich Heinemann

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.zew.de

University of Heidelberg - Alfred Weber Institute for Economics ( email )

Grabengasse 14
Heidelberg, D-69117
Germany

Andreas Peichl

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

University of Mannheim - School of Economics (VWL) ( email )

Mannheim 68131
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

University of Essex - Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)

Wivenhoe Park
Colchester CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom

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