This paper studies the importance of politician's qualification, in terms of education and experience, for fiscal outcomes. The analysis is based on a large panel for 2,031 German municipalities for which we have collected information on municipal budgets as well as the election results and...

Introduction -- Municipal Finances in Germany -- Participatory Budgeting – Origins, Diffusion and Research Findings -- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses – Examination of Factors Explaining PB Adoption and Diffusion -- Empirical Analysis -- Conclusion and Outlook.

Vor dem Hintergrund einer zunehmend disparat verlaufenden Finanzlage der deutschen Kommunen begibt sich Marc Seuberlich mithilfe quantitativer und qualitativer Daten auf die Suche nach den möglichen Ursachen dieser Entwicklung. Forschungsleitend wird von der These ausgegangen, dass neben den...

We study the fiscal policy reactions of municipalities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to an unanticipated spending shock. The implementation of a horizontal transfer system led to additional contributions for selected municipalities. Using the quasi-random assignment, we examine...

The government fragmentation hypothesis (GFH) states that coalition governments spend more than single-party governments due to an underlying common pool problem. Using a large panel data set on 604 local governments in the German state of Baden-Württemberg for the 1994-2014 period, I test the...