Sozialpolitische Maßnahmen und die Sozialsysteme federten die schwere Finanzmarkt- und Wirtschaftskrise in den Jahren 2009
und 2010 in der EU merklich ab. Der größte Stabilisierungsbeitrag stammte von den automatischen Stabilisatoren, deren Wirkung
zwischen den Ländern variiert. Sie ist einnahmenseitig durch den Progressionsgrad des Abgabensystems und ausgabenseitig durch
den Umfang der Transferleistungen bestimmt. Diskretionäre sozialpolitische Maßnahmen hatten ebenfalls stabilisierende Effekte,
und zwar sowohl im Inland als auch bei den europäischen Handelspartnern. Ihre Wirkung auf Produktion und Beschäftigung blieb
jedoch aufgrund der verbreiteten Unsicherheit und des hohen Anteils der Abgabensenkungen am Maßnahmenvolumen verhalten. Der
Sozialstaat entfaltet auch durch die Stabilisierung der Erwartungen privater Haushalte antizyklische Effekte. Obgleich schwierig
zu quantifizieren, dürfte diesen große Bedeutung zukommen.
Forschungsbereich:Arbeitsmarktökonomie, Einkommen und soziale Sicherheit – Makroökonomie und öffentliche Finanzen
Sprache:Deutsch
The Stabilising Effect of Social Policies in the Financial Crisis
Social policy measures and the social security systems in the EU stabilised GDP and employment noticeably during the recent
financial and economic crisis. In terms of their size automatic stabilisers were particularly important. Discretionary social
policy measures aiming at the stabilisation of the economy had positive but modest effects. The welfare state's stabilising
influence on expectations, though difficult to quantify, is also assumed to have played an important role.
Social policy measures and the social systems markedly mitigated the effects of the severe financial and economic crisis in
2009 and 2010. The largest contribution to the stabilisation resulted from the automatic stabilisers, whose effects vary between
countries. On the revenue side they are determined by the tax system's progressivity and on the expenditure side they are
determined by the size of transfer payments. Discretionary social policy measures also exerted stabilising effects both in
the domestic economy and in those of the European trade partners. However, their impact on production and employment has remained
limited due to the wide–spread uncertainty and the high share of tax cuts in the overall volume of the measures. The welfare
state also exerts anti–cyclical effects via its positive effects on the expectations of private households. Although difficult
to quantify, these effects are assumed to be important.
Werner Eichhorst, Mathias Dolls, Paul Marx, Andreas Peichl (IZA), Stefan Ederer, Thomas Leoni, Markus Marterbauer, Lukas Tockner (WIFO), Gaetano Basso (FRDB), Maarten Gerard, Ingrid Vanhoren (IDEA Consult), Connie Nielsen (NIRAS)
Studie von: Institut für die Zukunft der Arbeit – Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung – Fondazione Rodolfo DeBenedetti – IDEA Consult – NIRAS Consultants A/S
Auftraggeber: Europäisches Parlament, Ausschuss für Beschäftigung und soziale Angelegenheiten
Social protection, in particular unemployment benefits, minimum income support and progressive taxation, have significantly
contributed to reducing the depth and the duration of the current recession in EU countries and to stabilising labour markets
and consumption. Not only does social protection provide a safety net for those groups which have been hit hardest by the
crisis, it has also a stabilising effect on the overall demand for goods and services produced in the economy. Discretionary
action in the field of social and labour market policy, pursued in most European economies, included a broad range of measures,
such as employment incentives, higher benefits and increased transfers to low-income households. Further action, however,
is needed to overcome inequalities in access to social protection faced by non-standard workers, and in designing a suitable
exit strategy from discretionary stimulus in order to limit the fiscal constraints generated by anti-crisis policies.
