Infrastruktur ist eine zentrale Vorleistung, die in jede wirtschaftliche Aktivität eingeht. Für eine entwickelte Volkswirtschaft ist eine funktionierende Infrastruktur daher unverzichtbar. In Deutschland galt die Infrastruktur über Jahrzehnte hinweg als wichtiger Standortfaktor. Doch nach der...

Recent years have witnessed efforts worldwide to promote green mobility, aimed at boosting sustainable economic growth. However, how green mobility relates to travelers' well-being remains an open question. We explore whether "green" modes of transportation (public transit and walking/cycling)...

Die Sicherung und Verbesserung der Arbeitsqualität gehört zu den Zielen der EU und der Bundesregierung. Die politischen Bemühungen werfen die Frage auf, ob der Staat als Arbeitgeber im Hinblick auf die Arbeitsqualität mit gutem Beispiel vorangeht. Mithilfe von repräsentativen...

The paper tries to shed some light on the problems of centralization and decentralization within an economic union and the federal member states. Integration and decentralization are not opposite policy strategies but both meaningful if the single public goods and services supplies are analyzed...

Alluding to theories about relative economic status and behavior, this paper studies if relative income mobility, or the intergenerational change in income positions, affects interpersonal trust. Empirically, the question is brought down to an application with US General Social Survey data. For...

Intergovernmental transfers can be either conditional or unconditional with regard to the autonomy of local governments in spending such financial means. Although fiscal decentralisation has recently been quite pronounced in Eastern European transition countries, the dominance of a purpose- and...

The idea of fiscal decentralisation has become increasingly fashionable world-wide. But every country has unique features of the intergovernmental fiscal system. In general municipal expenditures are rapidly growing in European countries. On the other hand local tax increases are not easily...

Public sector employees are often said to have excessive rates of absence from work. Using representative survey data for Germany, we indeed find absenteeism of employees to be higher in the public than the private sector. The differences in the incidence and days of absence showing up in...

The idea of fiscal decentralisation has become increasingly fashionable world-wide. But every country has unique features of the intergovernmental fiscal system. In general municipal expenditures are rapidly growing in European countries. On the other hand local tax increases are not easily...

This paper investigates the development of local public finance in Germany, Switzerland, Poland and the United Kingdom. In this context important characteristics of municipal expenditures and revenues are examined in these countries. Differences in government structure (i.e. unitary or federal)...