Das schwache Rationalitaetsprinzip ist eine heuristische Regel, wie man in den Sozialwissenschaften sinnvollerweise vorgehen kann. Es ist notwendiger Bestandteil jeder ‚verstehenden‘ Sozialwissenschaft im Sinne von Max Weber. Zunaechst werden dieses Prinzip und seine Rolle im Rahmen der...

According to the Leviathan Model, fiscal federalism is a binding constraint on revenuemaximizing government. The competitive pressure of fiscal federalism reduces public sector size, as compared to unitary states. This study uses panel data of Swiss cantons from 1980 to 1998 to empirically...

La pratique qui consiste a recourir a des conseils scientifiques dans le monde politique semble etre dans une situation paradoxale : d'un cote, on considere ces conseils comme figes ideologiquement et peu informatifs, mais de l'autre, on y a regulierement et frequemment recours.

In this paper we discuss the main taxation related problems which arise from internet commerce. Additionally, a survey of the economic literature about this problem is provided. This literature mainly deals with the United States. First, effects on indirect taxation are discussed. Then, we deal...

Um zu zeigen, dass wirtschaftliche Aktivitäten dem Gemeinwohl dienen, wird als normative Referenz im allgemeinen das Pareto-Kriterium verwendet. Dieses lässt sich auch in begrenztem Rahmen zur Rechtfertigung politischer Entscheidungen nutzen. Damit solche Entscheidungen getroffen werden...

There is an intensive dispute in political economics about the impact of institutions on income redistribution. While the main focus is on comparison between different forms of representative democracy, the influence of direct democracy on redistribution has attracted much less attention. In...

Whether democracy or capitalism should have normative priority depends on the philosophical point of view but also how both are defined. The more relevant perspective is, however, the positive one. Formally, politics dominate, but the economy often dominates de facto because political decisions...

In response to recent negative publicity within and outside the economics profession, the Verein für Socialpolitik instituted a Code of Ethics for its members in 2012. The Code is based on central three principles of transparency, objectivity, and fairness. This essay presents a rationalization...

The weak rationality principle is not an empirical statement but a heuristic rule for how to proceed in social sciences. It is a necessary ingredient of any 'understanding' social science in the Weberian sense. In this paper, first this principle and its role in economic theorizing are...

In this paper, institutions are described which are designed to reach sustainability of public finances in the Swiss cantons. These are on the one hand direct popular rights, the fiscal referendum in particular, which allow citizens to express their fiscal preferences. These are on the other...