The short‑ and medium‑term effects of structural reforms

This paper considers the short- and medium-term macroeconomic effects of a broad set of structural policy changes (corporate tax measures, marginal tax wedges, ALMP spending, employment protection legislation, rental market regulations, rail infrastructure investment, and basic research expenditure), building up on the baseline results presented previously in the overview of Foundations for Growth and Competitiveness (F4GC). Using recent econometric methods, it analyzes the robustness of these results and the potential heterogeneities in reforms impacts. The evidence suggests that many reforms deliver measurable short and medium run gains when assessed on the components of growth in GDP per capita.