Belgium: Selected Issues

March 3, 2005

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

Belgium: Selected Issues, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2005) accessed November 23, 2024

Summary

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the challenge of population aging for Belgium. It argues that the aging strategy should be broadened to include more explicitly the objective of raising employment rates to foster potential growth. The paper discusses assumptions underlying the official aging projections, and presents an alternative baseline scenario on the basis of unchanged policies. It discusses the feasibility of strategies that rely exclusively on either fiscal or labor market adjustment, and illustrates the benefits of a two-pronged strategy. The paper also examines employment effects of reductions in labor taxes in a wage-bargaining model.

Subject: Aging, Employment, Labor, Labor costs, Population and demographics, Tax policy, Tax wedge, Wages

Keywords: Aging, Cost projection, CR, Employment, Employment rate, Europe, GDP growth, ISCR, Labor costs, Labor market, Labor market adjustment, Labor market reform, Tax wedge, Wage norm, Wages

Publication Details

Pages:

38
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Country Report No. 2005/076
Stock No:

1BELEA2005002
ISBN:

9781451803211
ISSN:

1934-7685

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