This study was prepared by Nadine Fabritz while she was working at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in the Department for Human Capital and Innovation. It was completed in June 2014 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich in October...

This cumulative dissertation consists of five chapters. In terms of research content, my thesis can be divided into two parts. Part one examines local interactions and spillover effects between small regional governments using spatial econometric methods. The second part focuses on patterns...