Current trends in the distribution of wealth trigger a social divide and threaten democracy. I propose to counter this evolution by enhancing the role of public capital as a redistribution and empowerment device. The governance of public capital requires two novel institutions: a socially...

Survey data from the United States, West Germany and East Germany are analyzed to compare individual attitudes towards political redistribution in each country. In West Germany the homo oeconomicus effect , the social rivalry effect and the public values effect simultaneously retain an...

This paper challanges the view that weak work norms in generous welfare states makes them economically unsustainable. I develop a dynamic model of family-transmitted values that has a laissez-faire equilibrium with strong work norms coexisting with a social-insurance equilibrium with weak work...

This paper examines the allocative implications of progressive income taxation when individuals care about their relative income. It shows that tax progressivity might improve efficiency, and the more so in egalitarian economies. Introducing a progressive income tax can yield a Pareto...

Dieser Beitrag schildert die Entwicklung der relativen Bezahlung der Hochqualifizierten in Staat und Privatwirtschaft in Westdeutschland seit 1977. Es zeigt sich, dass seit ca. 1987 die relative Bezahlung der Hochqualifizierten im öffentlichen Dienst im Vergleich zur Privatwirtschaft massiv...

This paper revisits the standard model of labor supply under two additional assumptions: consumption requires time and some limited amount of work is enjoyable. Whereas introducing each assumption without the other one does not produce novel insights, combining them together does if the wage...

Die Regierung eines Landes kann sich zum risikolosen Zins verschulden und in den Weltaktienmarkt investieren. Die Aktienerträge werden an die Bürger des Landes in Form einer sozialen Dividende weitergegeben. Welche Effekte hat diese Politik auf die Wohlfahrt der Bürger?