This article looks at various aspects of fiscal consolidation in 18 OECD economies. The prospects for fiscal consolidation depend upon the problems a country may face with its debt stock, the political will to deal with these problems and on the costs of consolidation. These costs are a function of the impacts of fiscal policy on the economy, which is the focus of this study. The analysis is based on a series of simulations using the National Institute Global Econometric Model, NiGEM. Fiscal multipliers differ across countries because the structure and behaviour of economies differ.

How should Scotland set the pay of its public servants? What institutions should it establish to do this and at what level should pay be set: nationally, regionally or locally? These issues are interlinked and are discussed in this chapter. The issue of reform transcends the debate about independence for many argue that the reform of pay setting is required even if the existing arrangements remain. In this chapter we shall look at the current arrangements for setting the pay of public servants in Scotland and contrast these with those in other small open economies in Northern Europe.

Using unique nationally representative workplace data this paper shows that unionisation increased the probability of within-workplace job cuts and the incidence of job security guarantees. As theory predicts, both are more prevalent among market-sector workplaces with higher union density and multi-unionism. In the public sector, levels of unionisation affect only job security guarantees, not job cuts. Explanations are developed in terms of union bargaining power and union voice services.

We assess the impact of the national minimum wage (NMW) on employment and inequality in the UK over the decade since its introduction. We evaluate its effects in each year, using an incremental differences-in-differences (IDiD) estimator. Identification is based on variation in the bite of the NMW across local labour markets and the different sized year on year up-ratings. We find that an increased bite of the NMW is associated with falls in lower tail wage inequality.

What should governments do with the level of the minimum wage (MW) in
times of recession? In an economic downturn when most workers face falling
real wages is it appropriate to let the MW fall or are the positive effects of the
MW on inequality enough to justify its uprating – and if so what might be the
consequences on a country’s employment level? This paper reports new estimates
of the employment effects of the MW by focusing on the recessionary experiences
across countries. Using international data we exploit: cross-national variation