the aggregate real rate of return in the economy? Is it higher than the growth rate of the economy and, if so, by how much …

In this paper I survey and reinterpret the extensive literature on Europe's Great Depression. I argue that Europe could …

conflicts provide a better explanation than efficiency for the core economic institutions of pre-industrial Europe - serfdom …

This paper challenges established claims of comparable degrees of market integration in Europe and China on the eve of … from Western Europe we conclude that in terms of market integration the Great Divergence was well under way decades before …

We examine whether parties punish politicians who vote against the party line in roll-call votes. Using data of German … account for the voting behavior by punishing politicians who have voted against the party line. Political parties may attract …

. We estimate party effects using a regression discontinuity design tailored to proportional systems. Based on rich local … government data, the analyses show that parties matter for fiscal policies. A larger left-wing party leads to more property … caused both by changes in the representation of individual parties and by shifts between the party blocs …

outcomes, rain provides an exogeneous source of variation, and hence an instrument, for the party composition of the municipal … council. I use this to estimate the causal effect of party composition on politics. I find that an increased share to left …

We consider an economy where competing political parties alternate in office. Due to rent-seeking motives, incumbents …, but they can forge a political compromise where each party curbs excessive spending when in office if it expects future … debt, vigorous political competition can render a compromise unsustainable and drive the economy to a low-welfare, high …

election outcomes based on municipal level data for Germany. We find that the party of the mayor can receive a bonus of 4 …