I exploit an exogenous reform introducing a local business tax in Portugal to study tax mimicking among jurisdictions. The identification strategy relies on a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences methodology and heterogeneity in treatment intensity. Results show evidence of significant...

Revenue cap regulation is often combined with systematic benchmarking to reveal the managerial inefficiencies when regulating natural monopolies. One example is the European energy sector, where benchmarking methods are based on actual cost data, which are influenced by managerial inefficiency...

Regulatory authorities in the European electricity sector use benchmarking techniques to determine the cost-efficient production level for an incentive regulation of distribution system operators (DSOs). With nearly 900 DSOs operating in the German electricity sector, of which 200 subject to...

This paper provides evidence that ownership and organization matters for the efficiency of provision of public services. In particular, we find that pure private ownership is more efficient than pure public ownership, followed by mixed ownership. The delegation of management in different legal...

I examine the effects of privatization, in the form of acquisitions, in the Swedish electricity distribution sector. As the majority of the distribution networks remained publicly owned, I use a synthetic control method to identify the effects on price and labor efficiency. In comparison to...

This dissertation contains economic microanalyses of voting, regulation and higher education. It is about individual decisions, institutions, and the incentives the latter create. Three chapters of this dissertation are based on empirical results, whereas one chapter is a purely theoretical...

A growing literature documents the existence of strategic political reactions to public expenditure in one jurisdiction on either neighboring or reference jurisdictions. The latter might give raise to downward expenditure spiral, or "race to the bottom". However, in ascertaining the empirical...

Die Stromnetzbetreiber in Deutschland müssen in den nächsten Jahren in erheblichem Umfang in die Netzinfrastruktur investieren. Dies ist zum einen durch die Umsetzung der Energiewende bedingt, zum anderen besteht großer Erneuerungsbedarf bei veralteten Anlagen. Die 2009 im Zuge der...

Adequate extension of electricity transmission networks is required for integrating fluctuating renewable energy sources, such as wind power, into electricity systems. We study the performance of different regulatory approaches for network expansion in the context of realistic demand patterns...

Real life applications of yardstick regulation frequently refer to historical cost data. While yardstick regulation cuts the link between firms own costs and prices firms may charge in a static setting, it does not do so in a dynamic setting where historical cost data is used. A firm can...

Seit Anfang 2009 unterliegt die leitungsgebundene Energieversorgung in Deutschland der Anreizregulierung, durch die ein effizienter Betrieb von Strom und Gasnetzen sichergestellt werden soll. Unklar ist allerdings, inwieweit die Anreizregulierung sich auf Investitionen in Ersatz und Ausbau der...

We analyze the effects of an incentive based regulatory scheme with revenue caps on the investment behaviors and decisions of 109 electricity distribution companies operating in Germany in 2006-2012. We hypothesize that Germany's implementation of incentive regulation in 2009 has a negative...

This dissertation tries to increase our understanding of collusion, antitrust policy and leniency programs. Under collusion, firms make agreements to restrict competition, typically by fixing prices. Antitrust policy aims to reduce such behavior. One of its tools is leniency programs, under...

Wenn das Finanzausgleichsgesetz zum Ende des Jahres 2019 außer Kraft tritt, ergibt sich eine historische Chance, die Reibungsverluste im gegenwärtigen Ausgleichssystem durch eine Neuordnung der Bund-Länder-Finanzbeziehungen zu verringern. Der Autor analysiert, in welchem institutionellen...

Mehr als 1600 Verteilnetzbetreiber versorgen deutsche Haushalte mit Strom und Gas. Dabei handelt es sich um »natürliche Monopole«, d.h. es gibt keinen direkten Wettbewerb zwischen den Unternehmen, sondern werden sie durch die Bundesnetzagentur im Anreizregulierungsverfahren reguliert....

Im derzeitigen Anreizregulierungsmodell für österreichische Stromverteilernetzbetreiber erfolgt bislang keine Berücksichtigung jeglicher Qualitätsdimensionen. Das vorliegende Papier diskutiert ausgehend von einer theoretischen Betrachtung und anschließender rechtlicher Einordnung, die...