This article analyses how the presence of a dominant group of voters within the electorate affects voter turnout. Theoretically, we argue that both the absolute size and the relative power of a dominant group influence voters' decision-making process. The former effect derives from increased...

Die Vorlage von in der Regel unterschiedlicher ökonometrischer Evidenz durch die verschiedenen Parteien birgt die Gefahr, dass diese vor Gericht ohne weitere Analyse als widersprüchlich erachtet und damit ggf. sogar gänzlich ignoriert werden. Mittels des Konzepts der "severity" oder "Schwere"...

This paper analyses the impact of vertical grants on local public sector efficiency. First, we develop a theoretical model in which the bureaucrat sets the tax price while voters choose the quantity of public services. We use a very simple theoretical model to show that grants reduce efficiency...

Empirical and theoretical contributions provide strong evidence that firm-level performance outcomes in terms of innovativeness can either be determined by the firm's position in the social space (network effects) or by the firm's position in the geographical space (co-location effects). Even...

Similarly to West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, the eastern part of Germany has experienced a still ongoing process of numerous amalgamations among counties, towns and municipalities since the mid-1990s. The evidence in the economic literature is mixed with regard to the claimed expenditure...

More than ten years after the seminal paper by Borjas and Bratsberg (1996) modeling the impact of skills on remigration the empirical evidence on that theory is still mixed. Our paper is to shed light on that issue. Using the GSOEP we test two hypotheses derived from Borjas and Bratsberg (1996)...

Summary Using a unique data set on German child care centers, we estimate a long-run multi-product cost function for child care provision in Germanywhile taking into account legal minimal labor input restrictions. For a representative child care center we find economies of scale, a U-shaped...

This paper analyses the impact of vertical grants on local public sector efficiency. First, we develop a theoretical model in which the bureaucrat sets the tax price while voters choose the quantity of public services. In this model, grants reduce efficiency if voters do not misinterpret the...

More than 10 years after the seminal paper by Borjas and Bratsberg (1996), modelling the impact of skills on remigration, the empirical evidence on that theory is still mixed. Our article is to shed light on that issue. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) we test two hypotheses derived...

Similarly to western Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, the eastern part of Germany has experienced a still ongoing process of numerous amalgamations among counties, towns and municipalities since the mid-1990s. The evidence in the economic literature is mixed with regard to the claimed expenditure...