Narrative dataset of fiscal actions in the EU new member states

Abstract

The dataset encompasses discretionary fiscal actions in the group of 11 EU New Member States (NMS), which so far have been under-researched, spanning from 2004 to 2019. It extends the narrative dataset of fiscal actions in Advanced Economies created by [1]. Information on actions and their estimated fiscal effects was collected from annually published Convergence or Stability Programmes. Individual actions were classified according to the relevant category of government expenditure and revenue (in line with the classification proposed by [1]) and identified as either exogenous or endogenous (based on the distinction introduced by [3]). The raw data were then aggregated into fiscal plans, by country and announcement year. Finally, two spreadsheets were created. The baseline spreadsheet contains only fiscal consolidation episodes, following the method of [1], while the alternative dataset includes both consolidation and expansion fiscal plans, which extends the methodological approach of [1]. Moreover, in the alternative dataset, the time span of fiscal effects is extended from 5 to 8 years (the longest available) and dividends are added. Dividends represent a category of public revenue not included in [1], but they are non-negligible in the case of the NMS due to the post-socialist legacy.

Keywords

• Fiscal policy
• Fiscal consolidations
• Fiscal expansions
• Narrative studies
• Government expenditure
• Taxation