Zusammenfassung: Initiiert von einer lebhaften öffentlichen und wissenschaftlichen Debatte um die Eignung des Bruttoinlandsprodukts als Indikator für materiellen Wohlstand sind zahlreiche alternative Maße zur Wohlstands- und Wohlfahrtsmessung entwickelt worden. Fällt dabei die Wahl auf einen...

In many federations, fiscal equalization schemes soften fiscal imbalances across the member states. Such schemes usually imply that the member states internalize only a small fraction of the additional tax revenue from an expansion of the state-specific tax bases, while the remainder of the...

In many federations, fiscal equalization schemes soften fiscal imbalances across the member states. Such schemes usually imply that a member state internalizes only a small fraction of the additional tax revenue from an expansion of the state-specific tax base, while the remainder of the...

Will die Politik evidenzbasierte Entscheidungen über die Steuerung gesamtgesellschaftlicher Wohlfahrt und Lebensqualität treffen, so bedarf sie statistisch abgesicherter Informationen über die vergangene, aktuelle und auch künftige Entwicklung relevanter Phänomene. Vor dem Diktum einer...

The role and influence of the finance minister within the cabinet are discussed with increasing prominence in the theoretical literature on the political economy of budget deficits. It is generally assumed that the spending ministers can enhance their reputation purely with new or more extensive...

Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion and that the number of administrators in an office is bound to increase over time. A unique laboratory to test Parkinson's ideas are vehicle registration offices in Germany. Using their data we found empirical...

Germany’s public budgets are in distress. For several years, the “golden rule” has been broken and the deficit criterion of Maastricht has not been met. As German states have hardly any tax setting autonomy and as their revenue is mainly determined by a fiscal equalisation system, the...

We analyse the deficits of the German Lander (regional states) for the period 1960 to 2005 and test a number of hypotheses derived from the literature on the political economy of public deficits. We find evidence for the weak government hypothesis, that is, coalition governments issue...

Eine zentrale Aufgabe der Föderalismuskommission II besteht in der Suche nach geeigneten institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen für eine wirksame Begrenzung der Verschuldung von Bund und Ländern. Welche Erfahrungen wurden im Ausland mit Haftungsbegrenzungen von Staatsschulden gemacht? Wäre...