Die im Oktober 2003 eingesetzte gemeinsame Kommission von Bundestag und Bundesrat zur Modernisierung der bundesstaatlichen Ordnung soll konkrete Vorschläge erarbeiten, wie die Fehlentwicklungen im deutschen Föderalismus zu korrigieren sind. Der wichtige Bereich Finanzverfassung ist dabei...

Der Bericht ist in zwei Teile gegliedert. Im ersten Teil wird der aktuelle Stand der Wirtschaftsentwicklung und der Reformpolitik dargestellt. Seit der Fertigstellung des ersten Berichts müssen hier eine Beschleunigung der Inflation in Richtung Hyperinflation und ein verstärkter Rückgang der...

The paper discusses possible directions and magnitudes of the relationship between the social security driven tax wedge, employment and shadow employment in Russia and Ukraine. The first section presents a summary of the economic and institutional background for development of the current size...

Russia's foreign debt problems worsened substantially after the financial crisis of 1998. The paper focuses on the key role of the government in servicing foreign debt and promoting institution building by showing how foreign debt influences the choice between official and unofficial taxation....

In der Bundesrepublik Deutschland haben sich die Anforderungen innerhalb der Abfallwirtschaft in den letzten Jahren drastisch verändert. Kostensteigerungen in der Abfallentsorgung und damit verbundene Gebührenerhöhungen haben in der Öffentlichkeit zu kontroversen Diskussionen geführt. Der...

Europe's banking system has been in a state of systemic fragility since 2007-08. The current phase is marked by a sequence of interactions between sovereign problems and banking problems, resulting in gradual contagion to more countriesand more asset classes. The banking and sovereign crises are...

In this paper, we take up the question why a group of sovereign countries is willing to form a federation even if residents of the high-income region suspect potential immigrants to be net beneficiaries of the tax and transfer system. We argue that income uncertainty alone cannot satisfactorily...

This paper provides a political-economy explanation of the degree of centralization in economic policy making. To determine which policies are to be centralized, regions select representatives who then negotiate the degree of centralization and the regional cost shares of centrally decided...

Germany`s disappointing economic performance causes political upsets. If the next government intents to be more successfull than the current one, fundamental reforms are to be enforced. Germany`s inadequate federal system is a major growth obstacle. The country forgoes the benefits of...