We analyze the distribution and taxation of top incomes in Germany during the 1990s on the basis of individual tax … returns data. We derive a measure of economic income from taxable gross income as reported in the tax returns. Thanks to … concentrated in Germany, more than commonly thought; (iv) although effective tax rates are significantly lower than statutory ones …

We analyze the taxation of top personal incomes in Germany on the basis of an integrated data file of individual tax … includes all taxpayers in the top percentile of the gross income distribution. We show that despite substantial tax base … erosion and significant reductions of top statutory marginal tax rates, German income taxation has remained effectively …

We propose a theory of tax centralization and inter governmental grants in politico-economic equilibrium. The cost of … the local level. This renders the degree of tax centralization and the tax burden determinate even if none of the …

years) by about 0.20 percent of GDP, tax revenues by about 0.36 percent of GDP, and net lending by 0.30 percent of GDP …. Predicting low levels of spending and tax revenues, East German state governments thus underestimated the size of government in …

policy. The model predicts population ageing to lead to larger social security systems, but eventually lower benefits per … retiree. Under realistic parameter values, it predicts a social-security tax rate close to the actual one, but higher than the … Ramsey tax rate. Closed-form solutions for the case with endogenous labor supply, tax distortions, and multiple policy …

I analyze how lack of commitment affects the maturity structure of sovereign debt. Governments balance benefits of … default induced redistribution and costs due to income losses in the wake of a default. Their choice of short- versus long …

debt as a means to i) deliver intergenerational transfers or ii) smooth tax distortions. We find that certain politico …