Kommunen tragen mit über 40% der öffentlichen Investitionen eine Hauptlast der öffentlichen Infrastruktur. Gleichzeitig darf bezweifelt werden, dass das Sondervermögen Infrastruktur und Klimaneutralität auf kommunaler Ebene die Wirkung entfaltet, die beabsichtigt ist. Zum einen landen am...

Dieses Positionspapier entstand im Rahmen der Tagung "Wettbewerb als geniales Entmachtungsinstrument - In Gedenken an Prof. Dr. Heike Schweitzer, LL.M. (Yale)", der Stiftung Marktwirtschaft, die am 11. Juni 2025 in Berlin stattfand. Es formuliert zentrale Handlungsempfehlungen, die sich an den...

In this paper, we study whether local spending of intergovernmental grants is influenced by mayoral elections in the grant receiving municipality. We exploit the implementation of the German federal government's second economic stimulus package of 2009 (K2) in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg as...

We study how individuals adjust their labor supply in response to tax reforms that alter income tax progressivity. In an online experiment with 522 participants, we compare responses to reforms that replace a progressive tax system with a flat tax and vice versa. We find asymmetric effects:...

The trade-off between consistent (rule-based) and optimal fiscal policy became evident in the zero lower bound era. With such low interest rates, the argument goes, optimal fiscal policy required extending debt financed public investment spending. But while fiscal rules ensured consistency, they...

Are the effects of tax aversion on labor supply symmetric? In a real-effort online experiment, participants are exposed to manipulated wages and taxes after first experiencing the same reference wage. We find no significant differences in their productivity; however, we find significant...

This paper assesses the effectiveness and public finance implications of the German debt brake, a constitutional balanced budget rule introduced in 2009 that aims to ensure a sustainable path of public indebtedness. In order to estimate its causal effects, our paper employs a synthetic control...

This study investigates how institutional rules and fairness in enforcement affect cooperation and compliance in heterogenous groups. In a preregistered online experiment (n = 1, 254), we vary both the existence of a rule governing contributions to a public good as well as whether enforcement of...

In the early 2020s sharp surge of inflation, unprecedentedly high levels of government debt and deficits fueled attention for the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level (FTPL). This theoretical framework for fiscally induced inflation is well-known and controversially discussed. However, empirical...