This paper focuses on the evaluation of an incentive program for firms implemented in southern Italy during the last decade. In the framework of the policy instruments aimed to reduce territorial disparities, and to support local development, territorial integrated projects (TIP) constituted a...

This paper investigates the effects of tuition fees on the university enrollment and location decision of high school graduates in Germany. After a Federal Constitutional Court decision in 2005, 7 out of 16 German federal states introduced tuition fees for higher education. In the empirical...

We analyse free-riding behaviour of Finnish municipalities prior to voluntary municipal mergers. The merger process creates a temporary common pool problem, because of a delay from the initial decision to the actual merger during which municipalities stay autonomous. Using a...

Spatial proximity facilitates transfer of knowledge and technology between research institutes or universities (RIU) and firms. Against this background the location of research institutions and universities is often seen as an instrument of regional policy to promote knowledge flows and R&D...

We analyse the effect of a mandatory kindergarten for four-year-old children on maternal labour supply in Switzerland by using two quasi-experiments: Firstly, we use a large administrative dataset and apply a non-parametric Regression Discontinuity Design to evaluate the effect of the reform at...

We analyse the effect of a mandatory kindergarten for four-year-old children on mothers' labour supply in Switzerland. Since education policy is regulated on a federal level, we exploit spatial variation as well as staggered implementation. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find an...