Job Market Candidates
Job Market Candidates Dennis C. Hutschenreiter Dennis C. Hutschenreiter is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Financial Markets at the Halle Institute for Economic…
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Declining Free Lunch: State Capacity and Foregone Public Spending
Sarah Fritz, Lorenzo Incoronato, Catherine van der List
RFBerlin Discussion Paper,
No. 67,
2025
Abstract
This paper documents substantial fiscal waste in the context of one the world’s largest regional development programs – the EU Cohesion Policy. We study Italy, and find that 20% of funding commitments are never paid out and funneled into unfinished or never-started projects. In our setting, this happens for reasons unrelated to fiscal constraints – municipalities appear to simply leave money on the table. Foregone spending is more prevalent in Southern regions, but there is also stark variation across municipalities within regions. We show that such under-utilization of available funds is strongly associated with limited administrative capacity of local governments.
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04.09.2025 • 26/2025
Recovery on shaky ground – tariffs dampen growth, but a change in fiscal policy is on the way
In late summer 2025, it is still unclear whether the German economy is on the road to recovery, as it has to cope with the dampening effect of higher US tariffs in the second half of the year. It is not until 2026 that fiscal policy stimulus measures, combined with low key interest rates, will probably lead to an economic upturn. According to the autumn forecast of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), production is then expected to increase by 0.8%, following 0.2% in 2025. Similar rates of expansion are also expected for East Germany. In June, the IWH economists were forecasting growth of 1.1% for 2026 and 0.4% for the current year.
Oliver Holtemöller
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CompNet Database
The CompNet Competitiveness Database The Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet) is a forum for high level research and policy analysis in the areas of competitiveness and…
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Evaluation of Place-based Policies
Evaluation of Place-based Policies An important part of IWH-CEP's work is the evaluation of political subsidy programmes aimed at certain regions such as the Joint Agreement for…
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Green Transition
Green Transition Research and Policy Advice for Structural Change in the German Economy Dossier, 18.06.2024 Green Transition The green transition is a key topic of our time. In a…
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Internationalisation
Internationalisation The Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH) is responsible for economic research and economic policy advice on a scientific basis. The institute…
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The Political Economy of the European Banking Union
The Political Economy of the European Banking Union Junior Professorship Lena Tonzer, PhD: The Political Economy of the European Banking Union: Causes for National Differences in…
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EVA-KULT
EVA-KULT Establishing Evidence-based Evaluation Methods for Subsidy Programmes in Germany The project aims at expanding the Centre for Evidence-based Policy Advice at the Halle…
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Payroll and VBL
Payroll and VBL Payroll The monthly earnings statement for IWH employees is made available online via the LuGIS portal . You will receive two letters with the access data for the…
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