Competition in some markets is a contest. This paper studies the merger incentives in such markets. Merger can be profitable. The profitability depends on the post-merger contest structure, the discriminatory power of the contest and on the number of contestants

Die Ausbreitung von Covid-19 über alle Grenzen hinweg hat die Politik weltweit vor große Herausforderungen gestellt. Die Bekämpfung der Pandemie hat auch die Interdependenzen zwischen den nationalen Politikreaktionen deutlich gemacht. Nationale Maßnahmen der Pandemiebekämpfung zeitigen...

In vielen Ländern hat die Reaktion auf die Covid-Pandemie tiefe Löcher in die staatlichen Kassen gerissen. Die deutsche Politik diskutiert deshalb über eine einmalige Vermögensabgabe zur Senkung der Schuldenquote. Der Wissenschaftliche Beirat beim Bundesministerium der Finanzen (2021) hat...

For patriotic citizens, living in their native country is intrinsically preferable compared to living in the diaspora. In this paper, we analyze the implications of such a patriotic lock-in in a world with international migration and redistributive taxation. In a formal model of redistribution...

We study the effects of patriotism on tax compliance. In particular, we assume that individuals feel a (random draw of) warm glow from honestly paying their taxes. A higher expected warm glow reduces the government's optimal audit probability and yields higher tax compliance. Second, individuals...

High employment protection in the public sector results in strategic over-employment if government divisions compete for budgets in a dynamic setting. Bureaucrats who are interested in maximising their divisions' output employ excess labor, since this induces the sponsor to provide complementary...

We examine a stark setting in which security or protection can be provided by self-governing groups or by for-profit entrepreneurs (kings, kleptocrats, or mafia dons). Though self-governance is best for the population, it faces problems of long-term viability. Typically, in providing security...