Institutions are common predictors of voter turnout. Most research in this field focuses on cross-country comparisons of voting systems, like the impact of compulsory voting or registration systems. Fewer efforts have been devoted to understand the role of local institutions and their impact on...

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"...

In this paper we study the effect of television exposure on fertility. We exploit a natural experiment that took place in Germany after WWII. For topographical reasons, Western TV programs, which promoted one/no child families, could not be received in certain parts of East Germany. Using an IV...

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)...

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...

The European Parliament and the Council recently adopted the damages directive that is currently being transposed into national law in all EU member states. This concludes the policy initiative of the European Commission that aimed at bolstering damages actions in the EU. Based on the heads of...

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...

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...