Researchers in Germany have nowadays access to confidential micro-data compiled from official statistics in a way that could not have been dreamt of just a few years ago. This article describes the new institutions that grant data access most importantly the research data centers located inside...

This paper analyses the effectiveness of the corporate income tax as an automatic stabilizer. It employs a unique firm-level dataset of German manufacturers combining financial statements with firm-specific information about credit market restrictions. The results show that approximately 20 per...

This paper uses an oligopoly model with heterogeneous firms to examine how an industry adjusts to rising import competition. The model predicts that in the short run the least efficient firms in the industry become inactive, surviving firms face a fall in output, mark-ups and profits, and the...

Using newly available representative longitudinal data for German manufacturing enterprises over the period 1999 to 2006 this study presents the first comprehensive empirical evidence on subsidized and non-subsidized firms in East and West Germany. The share of subsidized firms in all firms was...

This paper studies the role of beliefs about own performance or appearance for compliance at the customs. In an experiment in which underreporting has a higher expected payoff than truthful reporting we find: a large share, about 15-20 percent of the subjects, is more compliant if they have...