We study the role of self-interest and social preferences in referenda. Our analysis is based on collective purchasing decisions of university students on deep-discount flat-rate tickets for public transportation and culture. Individual usage data allows quantifying monetary benefits associated...

Eine theoretische Analyse beleuchtet die strategische Investitionsentscheidung zweier Länder in die Ausbildung ihrer Abiturienten im Kontext von freier Studienortwahl und gebührenfreiem Studium. Die freie Inanspruchnahme des Bildungsangebots durch Abiturienten anderer Länder verursacht eine...

The direct democratic choice of an examination standard, i.e., a performance level required to graduate, is evaluated against a utilitarian welfare function. It is shown that the median preferred standard is inefficiently low if the marginal cost of reaching a higher performance reacts more...

We examine subsidies for health care when consumers have present-biased preferences, which lead them to underestimate the effect of today s consumption on future health. We compare immediate subsidies paid for health-conscious consumption and future subsidies rewarding a good health outcome. We...

In this paper, citizens vote in order to influence the election outcome and in order to signal their unobserved characteristics to others. The model is one of rational voting and generates the following predictions: (i) The paradox of not voting does not arise, because the benefi t of voting...

We develop and test a theory of voting and turnout decisions that integrates self-interest, social preferences, and expressive motives. Our model implies that if pocketbook benefits are relevant, voters either perceive their impact on the outcome to be non-negligible, or expressive motivations...

Der Bildungsföderalismus gerät immer wieder in die Kritik. Er bringe im internationalen Vergleich schlechte Schülerleistungen hervor. Die Schulabschlüsse in den einzelnen Bundesländern seien nicht vergleichbar, was die Mobilität von Familien mit schulpflichtigen Kindern erschwere....

We develop and test a theory of voting and turnout decisions that integrates self-interest, social preferences, and expressive motives. Our model implies that if pocketbook benefits are relevant, voters either perceive their impact on the outcome to be non-negligible, or expressive motivations...

Zusammenfassung Als mögliche Ausgestaltung einer Steuerautonomie der Länder wird ein Zuschlagsmodell bei der Einkommensteuer diskutiert. Anhand der tatsächlichen Aufkommenszahlen der letzten Jahre berechnete Projektionen zeigen, dass auch bei einer moderaten Reform entweder erhebliche...