We study the fiscal reaction of German municipalities to a revenue shock that stems from the adjustment of population counts in the 1987 and 2011 censuses. We focus on the choice of instruments municipalities use in order to offset the shock, namely municipal taxes, debt, and spending. Simple...

Spending on productive infrastructure is seen as an important contributor to long term economic growth. Several authors have documented a downward trend in public investment during the last three decades and warned about its possible detrimental effects on the economy. A not well-realized fact...