Rapidly rising local government debt in Japan presents a nontrivial addition to the central government debt. The planned replacement of the approval system for local government bor- rowing by a 'consultation system' in FY 2006 does not remove the implicit central govern- ment guarantee for local...

The wage paid to politicians affects both the choice of citizens to run for an elective office and the performance of those who are appointed. First, if skilled individuals shy away from politics because of higher opportunities in the private sector, an increase in politicians' pay may change...

Die explorative Untersuchung greift den Befund auf, dass in Nordrhein-Westfalen die kommunalen Ausgaben in den Bereichen Allgemeine Verwaltung und Soziale Sicherung überdurchschnittlich hoch sind. Vor dem Hintergrund der anhaltenden Finanzprobleme zahlreicher nordrhein-westfälischer Städte,...