It is argued that an independent judiciary is a necessary condition for both individual liberty and economic prosperity. After having surveyed the literature dealing with how to arrange for an independent judiciary, the authors derive some additional policy implications by drawing on two...

A high degree of de facto judicial Independence (JI) functions as a crucial precondition of governments to credibly commit to legislative decisions, such as respecting private property rights. Thus, de facto JI should improve the allocative efficiency and may therefore contribute positively to...

In this paper, the introduction of direct-democratic decision-making in all EU decisions is considered when it is feasible without prohibitively increasing decision-making costs. We start with the contractarian argument that each constitution is a contract joining the citizens of a state and...

In diesem Beitrag werden die ökonomischen Argumente, die für und gegen Wettbewerbsföderalismus sprechen, zusammengefasst und mit der empirischen Evidenz aus stark wettbewerblich organisierten Föderalstaaten konfrontiert. Es zeigt sich, dass fiskalischer Wettbewerb zu einer effizienteren...

How a sustainable fiscal policy can be performed in a federal system is not only a Swiss problem but is also discussed in other federal countries like Germany and Austria, and in the European Union. Contrary to most other countries, the Swiss fiscal system is characterised by an extensive fiscal...

One of the most pertinent reform discussions in Germany is found in the debate on the local business tax. During the last year, two basic reform proposals, a ‚revitalisation‘ of the current local business tax and its replacement by a surcharge on personal and corporate income taxes,...

The advantages and disadvantages of fiscal federalism are widely discussed in economics and political science. While some authors argue that federalism favors individual initiatives and serves as a market preserving device, others emphasize the dangers arising from an increasing corruption and...

L’Etat fédéral suisse est l’un des pays dont le pouvoir fiscal est le plus décentralisé. Cette décentralisation se vérifie particulièrement dans le cadre des impôts sur le revenu et la fortune des personnes physiques d’une part et, celui des impôts sur le bénéfice net et le...

We propose and test a positive model of fiscal federalism in which centralization is less likely to occur in jurisdictions with referendum decisions on policy centralization. Citizens choose centralization of public spending and revenue in order to internalize spillovers if individual...

Three topics of a European constitution are discussed. First, basic arguments from constitutional political economy that aim at restricting representatives’ potential misuse of powers in a European Union with extended competencies are summarized. Since a European demos does not yet exist, an...