Die Effizienz der öffentlichen Verwaltung ist ein bedeutender Faktor für die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Mitgliedsländern der Europäischen Union und nimmt über verschiedene Kanäle Einfluss auf das unternehmerische Umfeld. Firmen interagieren hierbei in zahlreichen administrativen Schritten...

This paper analyzes the distribution of discretionary transfers from higher tiers of government in the process of fiscal adjustment in local jurisdictions which were hit by a negative revenue shock in formula transfers. Spanish local governments experienced a 30% fall in their revenue-sharing...

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether politicians manipulate the timing of tax rate changes in a strategic way to maximize reelection prospects. To do so, we exploit the German local business tax as a testing ground which is set autonomously by German municipalities. As election dates...

This paper provides novel evidence for the determinants of preferences for public health and the willingness to pay for health services using a survey experiment implemented during the third week of the lock-down in Spain. At the time of our experiment the confirmed COVID-19 cases reached the...

The quality of the public administration is an important driver of EU competitiveness and influences firms' growth prospects through a number of channels. During their lifetime, firms interact with public administration in different ways; complying with regulatory requirements, registering,...

A recent Spanish tax reform granted regions the authority to set income tax rates, resulting in substantial tax differentials. We use individual-level information from Social Security records over a period of one decade. Conditional on moving, taxes have a significant effect on location choice....

This paper provides empirical evidence on intertemporal income shifting during the implementation of a major tax reform in Uruguay. We exploit VAT and income tax returns for the universe of individuals that declare activity as liberal professionals (e.g. lawyers, public notaries, architects,...

Recent Spanish tax reform granted regions the authority to set income tax rates, resulting in substantial tax differentials. We use individual-level information from Social Security records over a period of one decade. Conditional on moving, taxes have a significant effect on location choice. A...

We study local government incentives to misreport the information required to implement a formula grant. We focus specifically on population, in theory the easiest variable for the grantor to verify. We analyze the Spanish case and show how a switch from the use of census to registered...