The growing literature on the potential role of energy resources around the Caspian Sea is dominated by geoplitics whereas economic aspects have been largely neglected thus far. The relevance of Caspian oil and gas reserves continues to be praised, though objective data on production and exports...

Household survey sample like the German Income and Consumption Survey (EVS) most likely do not adequately represent the upper and lower tails of the income distribution. In order to improve information on the upper income range, income tax statistics may be used. These almost completely capture...

Taxing local business is a common feature of local public finance in many countries. The German local business tax (Gewerbesteuer) is the main tax revenue source of municipalities in Germany. Liberal professionals, however, have traditionally been exempted from it. In the past, the German...

A first systematic, model-based analysis of the environmental fiscal reform in Germany indicates moderate but slightly positive effects on employment, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Two macro-sectoral models - an econometric model and an empirical general equilibrium model - were applied;...

In general, demographic development is expected to increase the number of cases needing nursing care. In order to explore the possible dynamics in this area, this papers employs a demographic model of the DIW which integrates among others a steadily increasing life expectancy. Grouping by sex,...

This article analyses the reform process in the European and the German natural gas sector. Competition in the industry and intra-European trade have been underdeveloped thus far. We argue that the European gas pipelines are a monopolistic bottleneck that require some form of access regulation,...

In this paper institutions are understood as rules of individual behavior. The focus is on the impacts of institutions on labor market decisions. Particular points are (1) the methods (or rules) that model individual decisions in neoclassical economics (rational choice approach), (2) implicit...

In addition to employed and unemployed persons, other groups of the society, namely parts of the so-called non-economically active persons, also often enter gainful employment, although they are generally not taken into account in the theoretical and empirical determinations of a country's...

This paper analyzes the risk allocation in concession models for German highways, according to the "F-Model" and the "A-Model". We first assess the deficits of traditional construction and management of highways in Germany and present the two concession models. Next, theoretical backgrounds and...