In most OECD countries the policy instrument of choice to prevent people from working in the shadows has been deterrence. While deterrence is well founded from a theoretical point of view, the empirical evidence on its success is weak: tax policies and state deregulation appear to work much...

"In political economics, the impact of institutions on income redistribution is mainly studied by comparing different forms of representative democracy. In this article, we analyze the influence of direct democratic institutions on redistribution first focusing on welfare and nonwelfare spending...

Since 2009 Germany has a new debt regime that requires the federal government to reduce its structural deficits to 0.35 percent of GDP until 2016 and the Länder to balance their budgets structurally until 2020. In this paper the rationale for a debt brake is discussed, the provisions of the new...

Die gegenwärtige im Kyoto-Protokoll festgelegte Klimapolitik versucht vorrangig, dem Klimawandel mit einer Strategie der Emissionsverminderung zu begegnen. Die dort festgelegten Reduktionsziele für den CO2-Ausstoß sind für viele Länder nicht mehr zu realisieren. Und einige Länder, die zu...

The shadow economy (also known as the black or underground economy) covers a vast array of trade, goods and services that are not part of the official economy of a country. This original and comprehensive Handbook presents the latest research on the size and development of the shadow economy,...

The shadow economy (also known as the black or underground economy) covers a vast array of trade, goods and services that are not part of the official economy of a country. This original and comprehensive Handbook presents the latest research on the size and development of the shadow economy,...

This book makes a rational and eloquent case for the closer integration of ethics and economics. It expands upon themes concerned with esteem, self-esteem, emotional bonding between agents, expressive concerns, and moral requirements.

Why is competition between institutions usually viewed in a negative light, when competition is considered positive in most other economic contexts? The contributors to this volume introduce new perspectives on this issue, analytically and empirically exploring reasons for this perception.

Attiat Ott and Richard Cebula have recognised the need to present, in an accessible and straightforward way, the voluminous literature in the public economics arena. Advances in econometric techniques and the spillover of knowledge from other disciplines made it difficult, not only for students...

This paper provides new evidence on the sustainability of public finances in German states (Laender) by exploiting a newly compiled database covering the years 1950]2011. Unlike previous studies on Germany, we analyze fiscal sustainability by applying gsecond generationh panel cointegration...