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Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Due to the fact that the unemployment rate of high skilled labour in Germany is about 3% in the last 30 years, this paper deals with theories that account for heterogeneous labour. The main finding is that the reduction of the labour costs cannot reduce the aggregated unemployment rate substantially. An important conclusion is that the skill upgrading of the labour force is slower than that of labour demand. The future of work in Germany lies not in low paid low skilled jobs, but in high(er) skilled occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discussion about the revision of German merger control underlines the relevance of media economic questions. This discussion frequently neglects the particularities of media markets, for example the mutual interconnection of advertising and media markets, i.e. of "two-sided markets". In this paper the impact of "two-sided markets" on mergers is analyzed. The results indicate that an intensive analysis of each case because of the heterogeneity of each market and a stronger economization of merger control would be useful. The basis for an economization could be quantitative analyses that are conducted using existing market data. The print media market is an example of the peculiarities of "two-sided markets" at which network externalities lead to pricing behavior that deviates from that on normal markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The German labour market is in dire need of regulatory changes. The Hartz Commission was assigned the task to provide measures for the reform of German labour market policy. This paper, analyses whether the suggestions of the commission promise a substantial improvement of labour market policy with the intended effect of a large decrease in unemployment. To check this, results from theoretical and empirical labour market research are used to create a benchmark. The suggestions of the commission are checked against this benchmark. The result is, however, that the suggested policies of the commission are not well suited to provide a substantial reduction of unemployment. In the final part of the paper, the reason for political failure in this area is analysed as well as the role of commissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most evaluation studies for Germany’s active labor market policy (ALMP) indicate that subsidized employment programs in the public sector (public works programs, “Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen”) and publicly funded training programs have, on average, no or even negative effects on individual re-employment probabilities. This paper provides possible explanations for the ineffectiveness of these programs, where we focus on heterogeneous treatment effects, which are not accounted for in the German evaluation studies due to lack of data, and locking-in effects, in particular related to the relatively high level of income support for participants in these programs. Since there is very little direct evidence on these effects for Germany to date, we draw on results from evaluation studies for other European countries. We argue that the success of ALMP is to a large extent determined by design features like the targeting of particular groups and the incentives from the co-ordination with unemployment insurance as well as the incentives of program administrators and local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and evaluates two interpretations of the eastern German labour market. These interpretations are called ‘wage gap’ and ‘innovation gap’. The former follows standard neoclassical thinking and regards high eastern German unemployment as the consequence of too high a wage level. The latter follows endogenous growth theory and regards a lack of product innovations as the main constraint on output and employment growth in the eastern German economy. The paper argues that the ‘innovation gap’ explains the facts much better than the ‘wage gap’. From this, the paper draws conclusions for economic policy: given the high interregional mobility of the workforce and the erosion of collective bargaining in eastern Germany, the wage level is not an appropriate policy instrument anymore. Instead, policy should aim at strengthening the innovative power of the eastern German economy by supporting research and development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development of the German telecommunications sector in the aftermath of complete liberalization. The paper focuses on the effects on the consumers. I present data showing the speed with which new firms entered the market. As a result of entry, rates for long distance and international calls fell drastically. In the local loop, however, competition hardly exists and the rates for local calls are unchanged. The paper also discusses questions concerning consumer rights. A particular concern is that it is still difficult for many consumers to get sufficient information on rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the changing relations between political systems and banking systems. After a brief survey of traditional mechanisms of protection for banks from competition combined with subsidized finance for selected worthy purposes, the paper sketches the structural change that has taken place in the financial sector and considers its implications for the workability of these mechanisms. For the future, the paper claims, the “economic responsibility” of banks lies in the avoidance of excessive risks burdening the community rather than in the subsidization of selected purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the economic policy concept of the annual report of the German Council of Economic Advisers 1999/2000 and the major structural problems in Germany. Addressed are the long-run allocative distortions of the tax reform, solutions to the issue of pension and to the institutional arrangement of the labor market. The paper describes the necessary steps to generate a more dynamic economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Life satisfaction in Germany has decreased since 2001 in contrast to increasing material prosperity. This paper provides evidence that publicly and privately provided social security measures contribute to the explanation of this development. The analysis is based on survey data of the Socio-Economic Panel for the period from 1992-2007 and is conducted by an Ordered Logit Model and an OLS Model with individual fixed effects. The results offer suggestions for economic policy as they indicate that public and private social spending matters. Concerns about job security and the respondents' financial situation clearly reduce life satisfaction. Evidence is provided that perceived social security strongly depends on net household income and employment which are at the same time the basis for public social spending and private insurance against risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume of short-term liquidity credit (“Kassenkredit”) of the German municipalities has increased rapidly in the last two decades. This development suggests that this debt instrument has been diverted from its original purpose, namely as an instrument of bridging short-run liquidity shortfalls. In this paper we analyze the reasons for this development – from a legal and institutional perspective on the one hand, and from an economic perspective on the other hand. One key result of the analysis is that this development is partly due to the lacking intervention of municipal supervision institutions from the Länder (German Federal States). Obviously, the Länder tolerate the abuse of the Kassenkredit in order to avoid more open types of debt. In addition, we investigate how the introduction of the doubly-entry bookkeeping in the municipalities affects the (improper) use of short-term liquidity credits. Finally, we point to the potential of the municipal Kassenkredit as a loophole in the new German constitutional debt brake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its annual report 2008/2009, the Council of Economic Advisors came forward with a proposal how to unify the German pension system. In this paper, we quantify the effects of this proposal. We show that the direction and size of the effects largely depend on the development of future wages. In the most realistic case we assume that the average wages in East Germany remain a constant fraction of the average wage in the West over time. In this case, the Council's proposal only weakly affects the size of pensions in East and West Germany. Thus, the effect on the contribution rate to the pension system is also weak. On the contrary, if average wages in East and West fully converge in the future, this reform would lead to redistribution from pensioners in the East to pensioners in the West. In the most unrealistic case, where average wages in East and West Germany continue to diverge in the future, pensioners in both East and West Germany would be worse off with the reform. However, contribution rates to the pension system would be relatively lower, leading to redistribution from the old to the young. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2002 German government introduced job placement vouchers as a new instrument of active labour market policy to foster the transition of unemployed to jobs. This paper investigates the demand, the treatment effect of the treated and the economic efficiency of job placement vouchers issued from May 2003 to June 2004. The analysis employs a large sample of unemployed individuals from administrative data collected by the German Federal Employment Agency. 20 percent of the West German and 37 percent of the East German unemployed demanded a voucher. According to the microeconometric results the treatment impact of the treated is positive. 5 out of 100 voucher recipients found a job as a result of the instrument. An additional analysis of the cost and returns of the voucher scheme reveals that the return remains positive if no more than 70 per cent of the direct effects are compensated by indirect (substitution) effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Moutos, Professor at the University of Athens once mentioned that Maradona had probably done more for the welfare of Argentina than any economic advice had ever achieved. In this paper we measured the social welfare which will be produced by the German National Soccer Team during the World Cup 2006. In particular, we analyse the utility of the TV coverage and the utility resulting from a success of the German team. Both effects can be seen as public goods. We use the Contingent Valuation Method to quantify the Maradona effect of the German Team. The results show significant welfare gains provided the German team will be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main argument commonly put forward against retail price deregulation in Germany's telecommunications markets is the concern that otherwise the former monopoly supplier may engage in predatory pricing. And even though some game theoretic models show that predation is sometimes possible, this paper argues that predatory pricing will generally not be profitable. However, prices below average cost and even below marginal cost may be part of a profit-maximizing business strategy without any predatory intent. Therefore, it is often difficult in practice to distinguish between predatory, anti-competitive price cuts and normal, competitive pricing policies. Consequently, a regulatory policy which requires incumbents to obtain regulatory authorization for all price cuts is not adequate. Ex-ante regulation of retail prices, as currently practised in many telecommunications markets, is the least satisfying approach. Similarly, the price squeeze tests that have been recently suggested by various European regulators have their limitations, as they tend to be over-inclusive. Instead concerns about predatory pricing in telecommunications should, as is the case in almost all other sectors of the economy, be addressed by ex-post supervision through general competition authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the publication activities of German and Austrian research Institutes in the time period 1989–2000. We find that publication activities in these institutes have increased over time, but that only 49 (of 518) articles were published in “Top 30” Journals. There are also two distinct groups of institutes concerning publication activities. Furthermore, findings indicate that Austrian institutes contributed substantially to publications and show high productivity, but they could not keep up with the increase in the last years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the ex-ante- and ex-post-incentives that result from different insolvency regimes. It concentrates on the problem of how to evaluate and utilise the debtor's seizable assets after bankruptcy proceedings are commenced. This is closely related to the problem of creditor co-ordination. We compare the proceedings following the direction of the new German insolvency law with some reform proposals suggested in the literature, such as the auctions approach by Roe and the options approaches by Bebchuk and by Aghion/Hart/Moore. The options approach in particular seems to solve the evaluation and co-ordination problem at low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, recent accounting scandals in Germany are traced back to a serious incentive problem in German auditing law. Since the auditor depends economically on his client, contrary to the legislator's intention, a factual forcing contract is established which enables the client to control his auditor's performance almost completely. As a solution to this problem the proposal of a Demsetz auction of the auditing monopoly is developed, including a mandatory rotation of auditing firms. I shall argue that this proposal not only alleviates the problem of auditing fraud in an incentive-compatible way but may also serve as an effective barrier against concentration in the auditing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study on commissioned economic research in Germany. We find deplorable methodological and empirical shortcomings in a prominent study by Munich's ifo-Institute, on aspects of horizontal fiscal revenue sharing between German states. We suspect that this may not be an exceptional case but may point out problems of quality control in economic consultancy as a whole. Therefore, we suggest establishing a certified referee system in order to improve research quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulation Policy in Germany faces the problem of establishing specific authorities for regulation in the network sectors such as electricity, railways and telecommunication. In this paper it is argued that there is a need for sector-related regulation institutions, but there are strong arguments against the introduction of (new) regulating offices. These arguments especially concern the captiveness of regulators and the persistence of regulation authorities once established. Therefore, it should be the task of an extended German Federal Cartel Office to support open network provision and competition in the field of network sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent article presents effective corporate tax burdens for a number of countries. Its authors conclude that Germany can be considered to be a low tax country by international comparison, and that a tax reform which aims at reducing the effective tax burden on German corporations is not necessary. In our paper, we critically review the method used for that study. In a second step, we present approaches which we assume to be better suited for such an analysis, and results generated by these approaches. We conclude that Germany cannot be considered to be a low tax country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper exact criteria are defined in order to identify a “fair” remuneration of the labour power. Due to this principle a point of reference is provided which makes it possible to refer to a “just” level of wages. Thus we are entitled to judge the factual pay as “too high” or “too low”. Finally an assessment of empirical evidence concerning the factor shares in Germany is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we give an overview, with special emphasis on Germany, of the recent development of the market for venture capital. We analyse the financial contracting problems that arise when entrepreneurs need capital from outside investors, and demonstrate how these problems are addressed by the institutions and contracts observed in the market for venture capital. Finally, we discuss the arguments in favour of government subsidies for private R&D, and argue that there are positive incentive effects if these subsidies are given to venture capital financed projects, rather than to established firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives an overview on the design and the evaluation of Active Labor Market Policy (AAMP) in Germany. While expenditure on AAMP is very high (43 billion DM in 2000), a comprehensive evaluation of its effects is missing. We discuss the methodological problems involved and the data requirements for a convincing evaluation. In the past, policy makers did not appear interested in a scientific evaluation of their sometimes erratic AAMP and no appropriate data were made available. This situation is changing slowly and awareness for the necessity of evaluation is increasing. However, there is the risk that some recent attempts by policy makers to foster evaluation may prove counterproductive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops a scenario of an interaction between actual governmental active labour market programmes and econometric policy evaluations. It argues that this scenario could and indeed should be implemented. The paper shows also that realities in Switzerland and Germany are very different from this ideal situation. The good news is that both countries appear to move – albeit slowly – towards that vision. It is however apparent that currently Germany is considerably lagging behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often said that the parliament should represent the opinions found in the population and that the government should be held accountable for its political program. It is shown in the paper that these two functions rely on two different basic models of democracy which are not fully compatible with each other: the model of a pure representative democracy and the model of a pure two party competition. Unaccountable governments, voter alienation, strategic voting, and governmental instability are shown to be consequences of this institutional mix. These problems may be avoided with reforms towards one or the other basic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the tax reliefs and the investment incentives for partnerships that can be expected from the current tax reform in Germany. We therefore compare the enacted law with concepts that have been submitted by the so-called “Bruehler Commission”. After a brief description of the different alternatives our analysis continues with the calculation and evaluation of average and marginal tax rates for selected income groups. As a result it is argued that the alternative proposals lead to unequally distributed tax reliefs between different income groups and generate weaker investment incentives. Thus we support the enacted law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of its long history, reform of financial equalization at local government level has not brought the necessary improvements in efficiency. Therefore, it is surprising that the criticized West German system was transferred almost unchanged to the East German Laender in the course of reunification. Obviously the politicians were in conflict between testing new promising alternatives and preserving the calculable institutional structure. Therefore, this paper compares the financial equalization law of two Laender (Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony) in order to research its suitability under different socio-economic conditions. In the analysis we can clearly show the impact of socio-economic characteristics on the carrying ability of institutions, so any transferability of local financial equalization systems has to be rejected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the main results of a survey, which we conducted in May 2000 among German-speaking economists about their views on economics publications. Our results indicate that the world market for economics publications is not fully integrated across countries, but it appears to be at least partially segmented. Economics journals published in German-speaking countries appear to be relatively important for the work of German-speaking economists even though other journals have a better reputation among them. And although internationally reputed journals enjoy the highest reputation among German-speaking economists, domestic economic journals enjoy a higher reputation than would be justified according to international citation-based rankings. Especially older German-speaking economists tend to attach relatively high importance and reputation to domestic journals, while younger economists tend to favour international journals that focus on certain subfields of economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the prices charged and the quality of service provided by state monopolies and private insurance companies on the property insurance market. Both the cross-section data from Switzerland and the time-series evidence from Germany strongly suggest that in this specific market the presence of state monopolies is very advantageous for the customers. This raises the question why German academic economists made practically no effort to defend their state insurance monopolies in the debate about the 3rd EU directive on property insurance. Is it possible that peer pressure prevents academic economists from standing up to defend state monopolies, even if these are clearly to the benefit of consumers? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attacks the widespread view that the latest (corporate) income tax reform in Germany was urgently needed to reduce the tax burden on the German economy. In the run-up to this tax reform, the public debate focused on nominal income tax rates and hence neglected the determination of the tax base. Empirical results on effective tax burdens in OECD countries show that a reform of German (corporate) capital taxation cannot be justified on the grounds of the tax burden. The international comparison of effective average tax rates shows that the corporate tax burden in Germany steadily declined from 1980 and was in 1996 lower than in most other industrialised countries. However, we argue that not only the actual tax burden but also the complexity of a tax system determines its international competitiveness. A German tax reform was – and still is – necessary due to the lasting complexity of the tax system and the relatively high tax burden on labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of return in a PAYG pension system is typically lower than in a funded system. This lower rate of return generates a loss for the contributors which basically acts like an implicit income tax. In this paper, we argue that the implicit income tax is an excellent measure with which to evaluate the upcoming pension crisis in Germany and that it is also much better suited than other measures (such as the contribution rate, the pension level or the rate of return) to understand the impact of various reform scenarios. We also calculate the development of the implicit tax for prominent reform proposals in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent debate about a new international financial architecture, i.e. a reform of the international financial system, is strongly influenced by current events. In contrast to this the paper puts the problem into the framework of Ordnungspolitik . Beginning with the development of the recent discussion and shortcomings in the international financial system, we discuss fundamental reform proposals in brief and reform steps already realized at greater length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The turbulence in the international financial markets in the 1980s inspired the idea that independent academics might be in a position to make a contribution to the improvement of regulation and thus ultimately also to the stability of the national financial sector in the United States. This led to the creation of the US “Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee”, a group of academics and other independent experts working in the field of financial regulation, which meets regularly and issues statements concerning conceptual as well as current issues in financial regulation. Two years ago, a similar shadow committee was founded in Europe. It is composed of members from 11 different countries. The special problems of financial regulation in Europe, as well as the special features of the European Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (ESFRC), derive from the fact that despite the trend towards economic and political integration, Europe is still a collection of different nations with different institutional set-ups and political and economic traditions. In this paper, Harald Benink, chairman of the ESFRC, and Reinhard H. Schmidt, one of the two German members, describe the origin, the objectives and the functioning of the committee and the thrust of its recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation on the German labour market is still a catastrophe. The institutional set-ups on the labour market and the welfare state obviously no longer fit the fundamentally changed economic environment. There is next to no competition on the labour market and unions and employers' associations use the generous welfare state to transfer the burden of adjustment to changes in the economic environment onto the public at large. Institutional mismatch is prevalent. The red-green coalition government has not only realized that persistently high unemployment inflicts tremendous economic damage but that it is also politically destabilizing. It has therefore announced that the performance on the labour market during its term of office shall be its own measure of success or failure. This paper discusses whether the regulatory steps taken by the red-green coalition government, like implementing stricter employment protection legislation, reintroducing full pay when sick, and changing the law concerning low-paid jobs, are suitable for reducing this institutional mismatch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Anders als den steigenden Neuvertragsmieten in vielen deutschen Großstädten wird den nur langsam steigenden Bestandsmieten wenig Raum in der öffentlichen Debatte um bezahlbaren Wohnraum eingeräumt. In diesem Beitrag zeigen Bernd Raffelhüschen und Sebastian Will auf Basis der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe, dass die Einkommen in den zurückliegenden Jahren stärker gestiegen sind als die Bestandsmieten. In ganz Deutschland ist die Erschwinglichkeit des Wohnens zur Miete in den vergangenen zehn Jahren konstant geblieben. Die Autoren beleuchten die Verteilungsaspekte der Mietkostenbelastung durch Differenzierung nach Einkommen, Alter, Erwerbsstatus und Haushaltsstruktur. Aus der Heterogenität der subjektiven und objektiven Belastung können gesellschaftliche Spannungen entstehen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Länder mit einer starken Betonung der beruflichen Bildung in ihren Bildungs- und Innovationssystemen, beispielsweise Deutschland und die Schweiz, zählen seit Jahren zu den innovativsten der Welt. Gleichzeitig konstatiert internationale Innovationsforschung, dass ein hoher Akademisierungsgrad (und damit gerade nicht die berufliche Bildung) für starke Innovationsleistungen unabdinglich ist. Wie lässt sich dieser Widerspruch erklären? In diesem Überblicksartikel zeigen Uschi Backes-Gellner und Patrick Lehnert anhand einer Aufarbeitung neuer Forschungserkenntnisse, warum die deutschsprachigen Länder nicht trotz, sondern gerade auch wegen ihres Berufsbildungssystems hochinnovativ sind. Zu den erforderlichen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen für diesen Effekt gehören dabei die zukunftsorientierte Gestaltung und Aktualisierung von Berufsausbildungscurricula, die Vermittlung von breiten beruflichen (statt engen betriebsspezifischen) Kompetenzen in dualen Berufsausbildungsprogrammen, ein durchlässiges Bildungssystem mit attraktiven Karrierepfaden sowie eine Verknüpfung von tertiärer beruflicher Bildung und angewandter Forschung. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Im vorliegenden Beitrag untersuchen Clemens Fuest, Florian Neumeier und Daniel Stöhlker die Auswirkungen des Tankrabatts auf die Preise für Superbenzin und Diesel an deutschen Tankstellen. Die Preiseffekte werden auf Basis eines Differenz-in-Differenzen-Ansatzes geschätzt, in dem Frankreich als Kontrollgruppe dient. Den Ergebnissen zufolge wurde der Tankrabatt im Fall von Diesel zu 100 Prozent an die Autofahrerinnen und Autofahrer weitergegeben. Im Fall von Superbenzin beträgt die Weitergabe 85 Prozent. Dass die Preise dennoch nicht dauerhaft gesunken sind, hat andere als steuerliche Gründe. Aus diesen Ergebnissen folgt aus Sicht der Autoren jedoch nicht, dass der Tankrabatt wirtschaftspolitisch eine sinnvolle Antwort auf die steigenden Energiepreise ist. Er setze das falsche Preissignal und komme vorwiegend Haushalten zugute, die überdurchschnittlich hohe Einkommen erzielen. Außerdem erhöhe er die Nachfrage nach Kraftstoffen und stehe damit im Konflikt zu ökologischen Zielen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simplification of the tax system is a key objective of many income tax reform proposals. This paper investigates the distributional impact of tax simplification. Our empirical analysis is based on a microsimulation model for the German tax and transfer system (FiFoSiM). We model tax simplification as the abolition of a set of controversial deductions from the tax base. We combine these simplifications with a tax rate schedule adjustment to preserve revenue neutrality. The combination with a flat tax rate increases the inequality of after-tax incomes whereas the combination with a directly progressive rate schedule adjustment reduces inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the presence of downwardly rigid nominal wages, low inflation may lead to higher equilibrium unemployment by hindering real wage adjustments. This article surveys and analyses the growing evidence on downwardly rigid nominal wages. We not only deal with assessments of the existence and extent of downward nominal wage rigidity, but also discuss its possible explanations and macroeconomic consequences. We conclude that downward nominal wage rigidity does exist, that its extent is substantial and that very likely the real consequences at low, close-to-zero inflation are non-negligible. The results of this strand of research should therefore be taken into account in the formulation of optimal inflation targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)