The progress of markets erodes traditional relations of social solidarity that are essential for the stability and performance of societies. As markets advance, pressures build on the state to replace informal social obligations with formal ones. Regulation may fail, however, which tends to give...

The regulation of the transfer of property mortis causa has been a major concern of social reformers since the Enlightenment. Today, by contrast, the issue of the bequest of wealth from generation to generation stirs hardly any political controversy. Since the mid-twentieth century the topic has...

Alle aktuellen Bestimmungen zur Umsatzsteuer in einer kompakten Handausgabe.Die Amtliche Umsatzsteuer-Handausgabe des BMF bietet dem Praktiker eine kompakte Zusammenstellung aller für die Umsatzsteuer notwendigen, aktuellen Bestimmungen: das UStG, die UStDV, der USt-Anwendungserlass, die...

The paper presents some of the ideas underlying the current research program of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG). It begins with a discussion of how the institute's programmatic orientation has evolved since it was founded in 1984. Programmatic change over the years...