Institutionelle Defizite und wachsende Spannungen in der Euro-Zone
Hubert Gabrisch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 7,
2007
Abstract
The introduction of the Euro was certainly a success. Nevertheless, behind this success one may find some increasing asymmetries and imbalances across member countries, which may undermine the stability of the common currency in the long run. Tensions include the paralysis of fiscal policy, increasing divergence in per capita income, a high volatility of real state prices, and diverging unit labour cost developments. The given forms of macroeconomic coordination seem not to be appropriate to mitigate the problems. Obviously, countries can compete with wage policy only after currencies and their exchange rates were abolished, and the use of fiscal policy has been restricted. In particular, Germany and Austria were successful in competitive wage policy, while countries like Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, and also France did not yet use the competitiveness channel. Germany was able to reduce its unit labour costs more than other countries by labour market reforms and higher indirect taxes in replacing social taxes. However, the advantage may proof to be temporary only, for other countries will be forced to follow the German example. Given an ECB inflation target of 2 %, more competitive wage policy in the Euro area might jeopardize the stability of the currency through deflation and higher unemployment. It does not wonder that the discussion on other and new forms of macroeconomic coordination revived recently. This debate does not only include the introduction of a central EU budget with anti-cyclical effects, but also forms of direct and indirect coordination of national wage policies. In any case, it would be useful to oblige national wage policies to obey the common interest of the Union.
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Steuern auf Grundbesitz - Kann die Besteuerungspraxis in Kanada ein Vorbild für andere Länder sein?
Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Stärkung der subnationalen Steuerautonomie und intragovernmentale Transfers,
2007
Abstract
The article is evaluating the existing system of Property Taxation in Canada: how efficient is the system in general, and how is the Canadian Property Tax corresponding to the criteria for an efficient local taxation? The fiscal relevance of the Property Tax for Canada's cities is - as compared to other local revenues - much too high. But the Canadian Property Tax shows a lot of positive features. For local policymakers, the system of Property Taxation leads to strong incentives for measures which are able to increase or to stabilize the value of local property. In general, an adoption of some core features of the Canadian system of Property Taxation by European countries could be recommended.
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Local Public Utilities' Profits and Municipal Expenses in Germany: An Empirical Analysis
Peter Haug, Birger Nerré
Proceedings of the 99th Annual Conference on Taxation (November 16-18), Washington DC,
2006
Abstract
German municipalities are currently struggling with growing budget deficits and other financial hardships. From a public choice point of view it seems tempting for vote-maximizing local governments to raise revenues from sources which create fiscal illusion or allow tax exports. An increasingly important revenue source of this kind are profits of local public utilities. In this paper we try to fill an empirical gap and provide data of the development of the profitability over time for selected German local public utilities. Furthermore, we develop and estimate a municipal expenditure function for a panel data set of large German cities . We found some slightly positive relationship between per capita expenses of the municipality and the disposable per capita profits of the local public utilities. This indicates that probably the German municipalities – according to our theoretical considerations – tend to burden their citizens as well as non-voters outside their boundaries with implicit taxes to satisfy their increasing financial needs.
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Das Grundeinkommen - Potenziale und Grenzen eines Reformvorschlags
Ingmar Kumpmann
Wirtschaftsdienst,
No. 9,
2006
Abstract
Currently the idea of introducing a Basic Income is politically debated. A Basic Income is “an income paid by a political community to all its members, without means test or consideration” (Vanderborght/Van Parijs). It would replace the existing tax and welfare schemes which guarantee the subsistence levels for all individuals. The Basic Income would prevent poverty, simplify the tax and social security system and disburden labour from the costs of social security. It would put an end to the highly problematic governmental controls concerning the ability and willingness of the unemployed to work. The main challenges of the proposal are the difficulty of funding and the danger of reduced labour incentives, problems which limit the possibility for implementing the model.
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Revenue Boosting Instruments in Municipal Finance from a Public Choice Perspective
Peter Haug
Diamond, J. (ed.), Proceedings. 98th Annual Conference on Taxation, Miami, Florida, November 17-19, 2005 and Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the National Tax Association, Thrusday, November 17, 2005,
2006
Abstract
German municipalities are currently struggling with growing budget deficits, decreasing revenues, and rising expenditures. We argue that from a public choice perspective local politicians under financial pressure might prefer fiscal instruments that minimize the local voters' resistance and create fiscal illusion. According to Germany, suitable sources of additional revenues include the reallocation of revenues from the local business tax between the levels of government and increased profitability of local public utilities. Revenue Data from 1992 to 2004 indicate that changes in the relative significance of the net local business tax revenues are rather caused by changes in the share of the federal government in the revenues ('Gewerbesteuerumlage') than by changes in the local tax multipliers. Furthermore, we find a significant rise in profits of local public utilities in large German cities.
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Exit, Voice, and Loyalty – Gedanken eines Wanderers zwischen den Welten
Birger Nerré
External Publications,
2006
Abstract
Nerré reviews Hirschman’s transboundary, i.e. interdisciplinary economics based on some examples: the New Economic Sociology and its cultural embeddedness, migration phenomena in the break-down period of the GDR, the relationships in interorganizational networks, and the reactions tax culture shocks on the macro level.
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The German Reunification Revisited: First Insights From a Tax-Cultural Perspective
Birger Nerré, Carsten Pallas
External Publications,
2005
Abstract
Die Autoren gehen der Frage nach, wie sich die Steuerkultur in den beiden Teilen Deutschlands bis zur Wiedervereinigung entwickelt hat. Ferner wird nach Erklärungsmöglichkeiten für das Ausbleiben eines Steuerkulturschocks in den Neuen Ländern gesucht.
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Determinants of employment - the macroeconomic view
Christian Dreger, Heinz P. Galler, Ulrich (eds) Walwai
Schriften des IWH,
No. 22,
2005
Abstract
The weak performance of the German labour market over the past years has led to a significant unemployment problem. Currently, on average 4.5 mio. people are without a job contract, and a large part of them are long-term unemployed. A longer period of unemployment reduces their employability and aggravates the problem of social exclusion.
The factors driving the evolution of employment have been recently discussed on the workshop Determinanten der Beschäftigung – die makroökonomische Sicht organized jointly by the IAB, Nuremberg, and the IWH, Halle. The present volume contains the papers and proceedings to the policy oriented workshop held in November 2004, 15-16th. The main focus of the contributions is twofold. First, macroeconomic conditions to stimulate output and employment are considered. Second, the impacts of the increasing tax wedge between labour costs and the take home pay are emphasized. In particular, the role of the contributions to the social security system is investigated.
In his introductory address, Ulrich Walwei (IAB) links the unemployment experience to the modest path of economic growth in Germany. In addition, the low employment intensity of GDP growth and the temporary standstill of the convergence process of the East German economy have contributed to the weak labour market performance. In his analysis, Gebhard Flaig (ifo Institute, München) stresses the importance of relative factor price developments. A higher rate of wage growth leads to a decrease of the employment intensity of production, and correspondingly to an increase of the threshold of employment. Christian Dreger (IWH) discusses the relevance of labour market institutions like employment protection legislation and the structure of the wage bargaining process on the labour market outcome. Compared to the current setting, policies should try to introduce more flexibility in labour markets to improve the employment record. The impact of interest rate shocks on production is examined by the paper of Boris Hofmann (Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt). According to the empirical evidence, monetary policy cannot explain the modest economic performance in Germany. György Barabas and Roland Döhrn (RWI Essen) have simulated the effects of a world trade shock on output and employment. The relationships have been fairly stable over the past years, even in light of the increasing globalization. Income and employment effects of the German tax reform in 2000 are discussed by Peter Haan and Viktor Steiner (DIW Berlin). On the base of a microsimulation model, household gains are determined. Also, a positive relationship between wages and labour supply can be established. Michael Feil und Gerd Zika (IAB) have examined the employment effects of a reduction of the contribution rates to the social security system. To obtain robust results, the analysis is done under alternative financing scenarios and with different macroeconometric models. The impacts of allowances of social security contributions on the incentives to work are discussed by Wolfgang Meister and Wolfgang Ochel (ifo München). According to their study, willingness to work is expected to increase especially at the lower end of the income distribution. The implied loss of contributions could be financed by higher taxes.
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Incentive-Compatible Grants-in-Aid Mechanisms for Federations with Local Tax Competition and Asymmetric Information
Martin Altemeyer-Bartscher, T. Kuhn
Proceedings. 98th Annual Conference on Taxation, Miami, Florida, November 17-19, 2005 and Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the National Tax Association,
2006
Abstract
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