This paper examines the extent to which sectoral diversification can act as an insurancemechanism against fluctuations in regional gross value added growth rates. I apply portfoliotheory to the growth-instability properties of German districts. Furthermore, Idefine a comprehensive...

We examine how highway accessibility influences local employment outcomes. We exploit the stagewise expansion of the "Baltic Sea highway", the largest contiguous highway construction project in Germany since 1945. Results from difference-indifferences estimations and an event study approach show...

Fiscal rules are a frequent policy measure to restrict deficit-taking among incumbent politicians. In times of increased and sustained investment needs to mitigate the consequences of climate change, and to promote the digital and structural transformation, fiscal rules have become subject to...

We examine how highway accessibility influences tax policy. We exploit the stagewise expansion of the "Baltic Sea highway" in the East German state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as the largest contiguous highway construction project in Germany since 1945. For non-agglomeration municipalities...

Using a new instrumental variable strategy, we examine whether bilateral development aid increases military expenditure in recipient countries. The instrument is the interaction of donor government fractionalization and the probability of receiving aid. The dataset includes new data on military...

How globalisation influences social expenditure has been examined for industrialized countries. Globalisation has often been shown to be positively associated with social expenditure in established industrialized countries, a finding that corroborates the compensation hypothesis. Scholars have...

This paper investigates the impact of institutions or structural policies on the volatilityof income or GDP per capita in transition countries and in Kazakhstan in particular. Inthe first part of the paper we compare Kazakhstan's institutional framework with othertransition economies based on a...

This paper develops empirical growth models suitable for dual economies, and studiesthe relationship between structural change and economic growth. Changes in the structureof employment will raise aggregate productivity when the marginal product of labourvaries across sectors. The models in the...

The nexus between corruption and economic growth has been examined for a long time. Many empirical studies measured corruption by the reversed Transparency International's Perception of Corruption Index (CPI) and ignored that the CPI was not comparable over time. The CPI is comparable over time...