In many countries hospital regulation undergoes fundamental change. In reaction to steadily increasing costs, authorities switch from cost of service regulation to prospective payment systems (PPS). While it seems clear that this new scheme sets strong cost saving incentives, this is not so...

This discussion paper reviews the literature on experiences with innovation under the existing emissions trading schemes in the USA. The basic result from this review is that the innovation effects triggered by emissions trading have been limited because a) targets were not constraining in the...

Regulators and the firms they regulate interact repeatedly. Over the course of these interactions, the regulator collects data that contains information about the firm's idiosyncratic private characteristics. This paper studies the case in which the regulator uses information gleaned from past...

We exploit an exogenous price increase by about 10% for architectural services to answer the question how rice regulation affects income inequality and service quality. Using individual-level data from the German microcensus for the years 2006 to 2012, we find a significant reform effect of 8%...

We exploit an exogenous price increase by about 10% for architectural services to answer the question how price regulation affects income inequality and service quality. Using individual-level data from the German microcensus for the years 2006 to 2012, we find a significant reform effect of 8%...

It is imperative that the economies of the European Union become more entrepreneurial to promote innovation and economic growth. To achieve these goals, we propose a reform strategy with respect to (i) the rule of law and the protection of property rights; (ii) the tax system; (iii) regulations...

The interplay between entrepreneurship and institutions is crucial for economic development; however, the view that institutions determine the extent to which entrepreneurial activity is productive is only part of the story. We argue that causality is bidirectional, in that entrepreneurship is...

We examine whether Europe has an "entrepreneurship deficit" compared to other industrialized regions. Cross-country comparisons are difficult due to the lack of standard empirical definitions of entrepreneurship. Measures focusing on small business activity and startup rates suggest that Europe...

Mit der Untersuchung von Koch/Nielen (2016/2017) liegt erstmals eine Kausalanalyse zu den ausbildungsseitigen Effekten der Handwerksnovelle 2004 vor. Der vorliegende Beitrag diskutiert die diesbezüglichen Kernergebnisse. Auf Basis eines alternativen Interpretationsansatzes wird versucht, einen...

This paper empirically investigates contrasting views on the politics of economic policy. Merging different databases, we test various predictions coming form different strands of literature, with the aim of explaining the cross-sectional and temporal variation in the degree of regulatory...