Summary This paper addresses possible consequences of a minimum wage in a spatial context. An empirical analysis utilizing German data shows that a significant spatial wage structure exists and that, as a consequence, the share of workers earning wages below a minimum wage will be particularly...

Abstract This paper employs a novel firm-level dataset that combines financial accounts of German firms with data from a business survey to shed new light on the demand for capital. The empirical analysis employs firm-specific indicators in order to explore the effects of sales, the cost of...

Given the enlargement of the European Union, the fall-back in productivity growth and the lack of success in implementing further structural reforms, this special issue highlights the political economy in the European Union and discusses the role of the Maastricht Treaty as an impediment or a...

This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are...