This paper investigates the impact of the intensity of political competition on the leviathan behavior by political incumbents. Using panel data from German municipalities, we test whether the relative political strength of parties in local councils influences the spending behavior of...

This paper examines whether the degree of fiscal decentralization in aid-receiving countries matters in explaining aid effectiveness. The decentralization theorem predicts that the devolution of powers should increase aid effectiveness, since local decision-makers are better informed about local...

The Iranian economy is highly vulnerable to oil price fluctuations. This paper analyzes the dynamic relationship between oil price shocks and major macroeconomic variables in Iran by applying a VAR approach. The study points out the asymmetric effects of oil price shocks; for instance, positive...

This article studies the impact of decentralization on the shadow economy. We argue that decentralization may decrease the size of the shadow economy mainly through two transmission channels: (1) decentralization enhancing public sector efficiency ( efficiency effect ), and (2) decentralization...

Dieser Beitrag untersucht empirisch die ökonomischen Bestimmungsgründe des nach wie vor bestehenden Lohnunterschieds zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschland. Durch die Verwendung eines Mikrodatensatzes, welcher Angaben zur Personen- und Betriebsebene über die Zeit enthält, und die Anwendung neuer...

We study how natural-resource rents affect the risk of internal conflict within countries and how the federal structure of countries influences this relationship. Natural-resource abundance may induce excessive rent-seeking and thus increase the risk of internal conflict. Fiscal and political...

Die Studie geht in zwei Schritten vor: Im ersten Teil werden die Konsequenzen des Bevölkerungswandels auf den Arbeitsmarkt in Sachsen aufgezeigt. Für diesen Zweck wird ein Referenzszenario des sächsischen Arbeitsmarktes bis 2020 entwickelt. Es zeigt sich, dass sich die Arbeitsmärkte je nach...