We investigate whether public provision of positional goods can be a sensible instrument to address inefficiencies arising from relative-standing externalities associated with the excessive consumption of such goods. In situations where consumers face a discrete choice between a private and a...

A gradually introduced reform of local government accounting made it temporarily possible for municipalities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to avoid the effective control of their budget by the authorities in charge of overseeing local government budgets and enforcing the existing...

We study the effectiveness of local borrowing regulations in maintaining fiscal sustainability and the effect of supervision over municipal budgeting on local debt using a panel on municipalities in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2003 to 2011. The identification...

A gradually introduced reform of local government accounting made it temporarily possible for municipalities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to avoid the effective control of their budget by the authorities in charge of overseeing local government budgets and enforcing the existing...

If a public project is financed through private contributions with convex costs, project completion may be delayed. The paper examines how asymmetries, the order of moves, and the absence of commitment will affect the completion time. All three factors are shown to cause delay, although for...

This paper quantifies the dynamic macroeconomic effects of tax changes in Germany, allowing for anticipation effects of preannounced tax reforms. Identification is achieved using a narrative approach, which provides information about the timing of tax reforms. An anticipated cut in taxes has a...

Die Finanzpolitik hat sich in den vergangenen Monaten zunehmend zu einem Konfliktfeld innerhalb der Bundesregierung entwickelt. Während der Koalitionsvertrag neben der Einhaltung der Schuldenbremse auch Investitionen in die Energiewende und weitere sozial- bzw. familienpolitische Reformen (wie...

Trotz des Commitments zu dem NATO-Ziel reichen die Ausgabenpläne der Bundesregierung nicht aus, um das vereinbarte NATO-Ziel, 2 % des Bruttoinlandsprodukts für Verteidigung auszugehen, zu erfüllen. Hubertus Bardt, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, Köln, stellt fest, dass die dauerhafte...

In diesem Gutachten wird die Finanzlage der Kommunen in NRW untersucht und systematische Unterschiede zwischen Kommunen mit und solchen ohne "Altschulden" herausgearbeitet. In einem zweiten Schritt wird untersucht, wie sich die aktuell erhöhte Inflation auf die wichtigsten Einzahlungen und...