Lagging behind: The Hysteresis of Austerity

This paper investigates the role of hysteresis in the long-term transmission of consolidations in a panel of 17 OECD countries. The evidence supports that the hysteresis of the labour market is the main driver of consolidations’ long-term effects: an increase in the rigidity of the labour market exacerbates and prolongs the contraction following tax-based consolidations, while it mutes the expansion following expenditure-based consolidations. In contrast, the response of productivity is irrelevant to the presence of the long-term scars.