This Paper delivers a precise recommendation for how presidential candidates should allocate their resources to maximize the probability of gaining a majority in the Electoral College. A two-candidate, probabilistic-voting model reveals that more resources should be devoted to states which are...

Die Effizienz der Hochschulen in den Flächenländern Ost und West liegt im Durchschnitt auf annähernd gleichem Niveau. Innerhalb der ostdeutschen Flächenländer sind auf Länderebene zwischen den Universitäten jedoch erhebliche Effizienzunterschiede festzustellen. Zu diesen Ergebnissen kommt...

Die regionale Wirtschaftskraft, gemessen als Bruttoinlandsprodukt je Einwohner in Kaufkraftstandards, dürfte aller Voraussicht nach auch in der kommenden EU-Strukturfondsperiode 2014–2020 als Kriterium für die Vergabe des Förderstatus dienen. tatsächlich dürfte dieser Indikator aber die...

Ein wichtiges Thema bei den aktuellen Koalitionsverhandlungen um die Schwerpunkte der Politik für die nächste Legislaturperiode ist die Finanzpolitik. Es wäre sehr gut wenn es gelänge, die Subventionen in dieser Zeit die Subventionen substanziell zu verringern und so einen Beitrag zur...

This paper systematically examines the role of fiscal policy, trade and energy taxes on environmental quality in Europe using disaggregated data for 12 European countries over the 1995-2008 period. It uses a methodology that obtains estimates mostly free of time-varying omitted variable biases....

Does fiscal consolidation lead to social unrest? Using cross-country evidence for the period 1919 to 2008, we examine the extent to which societies become unstable after budget cuts. The results show a clear correlation between fiscal retrenchment and instability. We test if the relationship...

The paper presents a positive model of communication in federal legislatures to study the incentives of members to engage in a meaningful exchange of information, and how this shapes policy outcomes. Depending on the type of policy under consideration, communication between delegates generally...

The 2008 financial crisis is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1929. It has been characterised by a housing bubble in a context of rapid credit expansion, high risk-taking and exacerbated financial leverage, leading to deleveraging and credit crunch when the bubble burst....

This paper analyses the spectacular fiscal adjustment currently occurring in Italy. In 1990, the Italian General Government showed the second largest primary deficit-to-GDP ratio in Europe; in 1997 it is expected to have the largest primary surplus-to-GDP ratio, with a 3% overall deficit-to-GDP...