Estonian municipalities should perform a broad range of functions, while their fiscal resources are often limited and large disparities in fiscal capacity prevail among them. Moreover, the power to regulate fiscal affairs is mostly in the hands of the central government. We discuss how a strict...

In order to develop the necessary Estonian measures and policies the prevailing distribution of expenditures for these purposes are presented. Although the share of GDP used for financing education in Estonia is somewhat above the EU average the nominal amount of per capita education funds is...

The idea of fiscal decentralisation has become increasingly fashionable world-wide. But every country has unique features of the intergovernmental fiscal system. In general municipal expenditures are rapidly growing in European countries. On the other hand local tax increases are not easily...

This paper investigates the development of local public finance in Germany, Switzerland, Poland and the United Kingdom. In this context important characteristics of municipal expenditures and revenues are examined in these countries. Differences in government structure (i.e. unitary or federal)...

The idea of fiscal decentralisation has become increasingly fashionable world-wide. In some developed countries the systems of intergovernmental finance have evolved gradually and each country has unique features. Transition countries on different continents have had differing reasons and...

This study investigates major features of land-use strategies that German municipalities have adopted to attract innovative firms (IFs). In this context a two-stage competition model is introduced: firstly a municipality should solve economic and interest conflicts related to its preference for...

Die Studie des ifo Instituts München, die in Zusammenarbeit mit con_sens Hamburg erstellt wurde, zeigt die angespannte Situation des überörtlichen Sozialhilfeträgers im Freistaat Sachsen, dem Landeswohlfahrtsverband (LWV) auf. Ursächlich dafür sind stetig steigende Fallzahlen in der...

In der vorliegenden Studie "Die Besteuerung gemeinnütziger Organisationen im internationalen Vergleich" wird in einem internationalen Vergleich dargelegt, wie die Besteuerung der gemeinnützigen Organisationen in den anderen EU-Ländern sowie Japan und den USA geregelt ist. Insbesondere werden...

In outline, the present working paper aims at presenting, analysing and systematising key issues of the complex analysis on a country’s competitiveness. Competitiveness is a multidimensional feature of an economic entity operating in a market economy. Therefore different aspects of...

The present working paper aims to evaluate the current state, development and competitiveness of Estonian agriculture, based on the theoretical concept of the competitiveness of an industry. By means of analysis it is possible to predict what potential changes may occur in the agricultural...