Suchergebnisse

Previous empirical studies suggest that decentralization, measured by the number of government layers, is associated with less foreign direct investment (FDI). With an improved dataset on tax autonomy of sub-federal government tiers, we present evidence that fiscal decentralization (de facto) does not reduce FDI. If local governments can set their tax rates and bases independently, they attract more FDI. Analyzing 83,458 corporate cross-border acquisitions (CBA), between 148 source and 187 host countries from 1997 to 2014, we also find that takeovers between two countries increase with size, cultural similarities and common borders of two economies. Shared institutions such as membership in a customs union facilitate CBA. These results apply for high-income hosts but not for middle-income countries.

Previous empirical studies suggest that decentralization, measured by the number of government layers, is associated with less foreign direct investment (FDI). With an improved dataset on tax autonomy of sub-federal government tiers, we present evidence that fiscal decentralization (de facto) does not reduce FDI. If local governments can set their tax rates and bases independently, they attract more FDI. Analyzing 83,458 corporate cross-border acquisitions (CBA), between 148 source and 187 host countries from 1997 to 2014, we also find that takeovers between two countries increase with size, cultural similarities and common borders of two economies. Shared institutions such as membership in a customs union facilitate CBA. These results apply for high-income hosts but not for middle-income countries.

Are government bond risk premia affected by TV news in addition to the effect of the original event reported? We analyze 1,209,566 human-coded news items from newscasts aired by leading TV stations in Europe and the US between January 2007 and November 2016. We establish causality using instrumental variables that attract media attention and crowd out media coverage on Eurozone related news. We find FIFA and UEFA tournaments as well as major natural disasters and airplane crashes as valid instruments for the empirical analysis. The results show that an exogenous variation in the share of Eurozone related news affects bond spreads. A one percentage point increase in the share of Eurozone related news leads to -7.6 basis points lower bond spreads. Taking the tonality of the news into account paints a more differentiated picture: A one percent higher share of positive Eurozone related news leads to -69.7 basis points lower bond spreads, whereas a one percentage point higher share of negative country-specific news is related to 2.5 basis points higher bond spreads.

This article empirically investigates the relationship between TV news coverage on the eurocrisis and the GIIPS countries bond yield spreads with daily data between January 1, 2007 and December 1, 2016. We use 1,542,233 human coded news items from evening news shows of leading TV stations in 12 countries. These news items include 37,859 news on the EU, on the Eurozone and on country-specific economic issues related to the GIIPS countries and Germany. We find that an increasing share of news about the Eurozone reduces yield spreads, especially when the news has a positive tonality. This, at least in the short run, hints at the effectiveness of political communication through the media by European institutions and in particular the European Central Bank (ECB). In conjunction with the tonality of the news, we find some hints on country-specific news to have a significant impact on GIIPS yield spreads. A higher share of positive/negative news is positively associated with a decrease/increase the GIIPS yield spreads vis-`a-vis Germany. Despite these hardly surprising results, we find some evidence that some news is not immediately and completely priced in by market participants when it is released: we still find a significant effect of prior days news on the GIIPS bond yield spreads. In addition, we find that this peculiar effect of country specific news is stronger when the respective news is aired on the North American media market. We explain this higher coefficient as follows: North American TV news air only those news that are truly surprising and have thus a strong effect on yield spreads

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between TV news coverage and the GIIPS countries' bond yield spreads using daily data between January 1, 2007 and December 1, 2016. We employ 1,542,233 human coded news items from evening news shows of leading TV stations in 12 countries which include 37,859 news on the EU, on the Eurozone and on country-specific economic issues. We find that an increasing share of news about the Eurozone reduces yield spreads, especially when the news has a positive tonality. This hints at the effectiveness of political communication through the media by European institutions and in particular the European Central Bank (ECB). In conjunction with the tonality of the news, we find that country-specific news have a significant impact on GIIPS yield spreads. A higher share of positive/negative news is positively associated with a decrease/increase of the GIIPS yield spreads vis-à-vis Germany. Moreover, some news is not immediately and completely priced in by market participants when it is released. In addition, this peculiar effect of country specific news is stronger when the respective news is aired on the North American media market.

During the Euro-Crisis Ireland as well as Portugal lost access to the capital markets. Both countries sought for financial assistance granted by European institutions, the IMF, and bilateral credit agreements. The funds were disbursed conditional on implementing structural reforms. These reforms were agreed upon by conjoint consent and finally settled in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The key objective of these reforms aimed at regaining competitiveness. In this report, we analyze whether and to what extent the agreed upon reforms have been implemented. In specific, we analyze, whether the reforms have already influenced competitiveness. Finally, we are interested in the expected impact of the reforms on future economic dynamics. The starting situation has been different in the countries under scrutiny: Ireland experienced a period of high growth, which was partly fueled by low interest rates finally culminating into a real estate and credit bubble. Thus, a large part of the reforms focused on restructuring the financial sector. Portugal in contrast showed a rather slow growth performance over a longer time period. After joining the Euro area, Portugal benefited from lower interest rates as well. However, the improved financial conditions mainly spurred consumption. Capital formation was low since the corporate sector was burdened by highly regulated labor and product markets and an oversized government sector. We find that both countries have successfully implemented most of the agreed upon reforms, even if hesitantly in some cases. Indices of product market regulation improved in both countries. This is mirrored in the product market efficiency sub-index of the Global Competitiveness Indicator as well as in the Indicators of Product Market Regulation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Furthermore, labor market reforms correlate with an increase of labor market efficiency. Considerable progress was made in restructuring the financial sector. However, if measured in growth, the outcome of the reforms is quite different in the two countries. As of today, Ireland is back on a growth path with the negative output gap closing, if not turning into positive; a major revision of Irish GDP impedes a definite answer. In Portugal, potential growth is still extremely low and the recovery after the crisis is not supported by significant empirical evidence. However, international experience suggests that labor market reforms will stimulate growth, as they reduce structural unemployment. Facilitating dynamics in the corporate sector will pay off in terms of higher investment and an increase and modernization of capital stocks. However, these effects will not be visible in the short run because they require some time to unfold. ; Endbericht - Forschungsauftrag fe 2/16, Bundesministerium der Finanzen, Referat I A 3.