FG VWL, insbesondere Mikroökonomik
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A Tale of Two Federalisms: Long-Term Institutional Change in the United States and in Germany
(2011)
This paper offers a comparison of government centralization in the United States and in Germany. After briefly laying out the history of federalism in both countries, we identify the instruments of centralization at work. It is argued that an initial constitutional framework of competitive federalism does not prevent the long-term centralization of competencies. Against a background of historical evidence, we discuss the political economics of government centralization. It is argued that formal institutions clearly have an effect on the pathways of government centralization, but not necessarily on the broader trend of centralization. The conclusion is reached that preservation of state and local autonomy may eventually hinge on informal political institutions.
In this paper, we offer both a broad survey of the literature on fiscal federalism and long-run economic performance, and a detailed report of some of our own recent studies in this field. We look at the difference between study types (cross-country versus single-country studies), and at the relevance of the broader institutional framework into which fiscal decentralization is embedded. We also look into structural change and intergovernmental transfers as a detailed mechanism through which federalism may have an impact on aggregate economic performance.It turns out that fiscal decentralization has no robust effect on growth, but the evidence hints at a positive effect on overall productivity, conditional on the broader institutional framework.
Glück trotz Ungleichheit
(2011)
Die neuere ökonomische Forschung zur Steuerehrlichkeit geht nicht mehr davon aus, dass lediglich Steuerlasten und Strafandrohungen das Verhalten von Steuerzahlern bestimmen. Vielmehr wird berücksichtigt, dass Steuerzahler in gesellschaftlichen Beziehungen stehen, die Einfluss auf ihre Steuerehrlichkeit haben. In diesem Beitrag werden zentrale Ergebnisse der Literatur kurz präsentiert und Anregungen für eine effiziente Politik der Steuerdurchsetzung formuliert.