Stefanie Gäbler prepared this study while she was working at the ifo Center for Public Finance and Political Economy. The study was completed in March 2020 and accepted as doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It consists of six distinct empirical essays...

Weltweit ist fast jedes zweite Unternehmen von Wirtschaftskriminalität betroffen. Neben einem Vertrauensverlust und Reputationsschäden führt Wirtschaftskriminalität zu finanziellen Einbußen und erheblichem Mehraufwand für Ermittlungen, Folge- und Präventionsmaßnahmen. Zur Reduktion von...

While the world's attention is focused on Russia's war against Ukraine and the intensifying conflict between the US and China, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has continued to deteriorate. North Korea is steadily advancing the expansion of its military capabilities and recently...

Most parts of the Euro area have seen seven years of deep economic crisis. The strategy of tightening the fiscal constraints of the SGP has driven many member states into austerity. In contrast, the golden rule of public investment proposed in this study would be one important element of the...

Although a certain amount of catching-up in the Western Balkans has been recorded in the construction of transport infrastructure in recent years, the railway density remains low and the motorway density is even lower. Also, the deficiency in energy infrastructure is substantial. The current...

The aim of this study is to analyse the state of the competitiveness of seven Western Balkan economies and to suggest policy recommendations in order to increase their capacity to compete. Most countries from the Western Balkans have a persistent current account deficit of about 10% of GDP which...

In this study we argue for a 'Big Push' in infrastructure investments in greater Europe. We propose the building of a European Silk Road, which connects the industrial centres in the west with the populous, but less developed regions in the east of the continent and thereby is meant to generate...

This study provides a first analysis of the recent development in infrastructure investment in the Western Balkans. It identifies infrastructure gaps as well as key infrastructure initiatives in the region, outlines the political dimension and provides the respective detailed infrastructure...

Obgleich am Westbalkan in den letzten Jahren ein gewisser Aufholprozess bei der Errichtung von Verkehrsinfrastruktur zu verzeichnen war, bleibt die Eisenbahndichte gering und die Autobahndichte noch geringer. Auch der Nachholbedarf bei Energieinfrastruktur ist substantiell. Die aktuelle...