Yardstick competition in German municipalities

Does increasing transparency improve fiscal policy behavior of local governments? One way this could take place is via Yardstick Competition between incumbents of neighboring municipalities. This paper contributes to the literature by introducing a simple model which employs probabilistic voting to show the effect of Yardstick Competition on the amount of political rents diverted from the tax revenue. Since additional rents lower the probability of being reelected, the incumbent will reduce equilibrium rents if voters use information on fiscal performance in similar municipalities to evaluate the incumbent's quality. I test this hypothesis on a panel dataset of municipal budget and electoral data in the german state of Northrine-Westphalia. I show evidence for Yardstick Competition in the local business and property tax rates. -- Kann zunehmende Transparenz im kommunalen Budgetprozess die fiskalpolitische Disziplin der politischen Entscheidungsträger verbessern? In dieser Arbeit wird ein positiver Modellrahmen entwickelt, anhand dessen die Wirkungsweise von steigen - der Transparenz auf das Entscheidungsverhalten von Kommunalpolitikern durch den Yardstick Competition Effekt dargestellt werden kann. Politiker reduzieren die Veruntreuung finanzieller Mittel, wenn ihr Verhalten von den Wählern relativ zur Leistung von Politikern in benachbarten Kommunen bewertet wird. Unter Anwendung von Methoden der räumlichen Ökonometrie auf kommunale Haushalts- und Wahldaten der Jahre 1989 bis 2004 wird gezeigt, dass die räumliche Korrelation in den Gewerbe- und Grundsteuerhebesätzen in Nordrhein-Westfalen auf die Existenz von Yardstick Competition zurückzuführen ist.transparency, local public finance, political economics, spatial econometrics

Zur Nachhaltigkeit der Länderhaushalte - eine empirische Analyse

In Deutschland wird die Nachhaltigkeit der öffentlichen Finanzen zu einem wesentlichen Teil durch die Bundesländer bestimmt. Ihr Anteil an der öffentlichen Verschuldung beträgt fast vierzig Prozent. In diesem Beitrag wird die Tragbarkeit der Schuldenpolitik der Ländergesamtheit, der Ländergruppen (Ost, West, Stadtstaaten) sowie der einzelnen Länder empirisch auf der Basis der Entwicklung ihrer intertemporalen Budgetrestriktion getestet. Die Fiskalpolitik der Ländergesamtheit erweist sich als nicht tragbar. Dies gilt auch für die Gruppe der Ostländer und der Stadtstaaten, während die ökonometrischen Ergebnisse darauf hindeuten, dass die westlichen Flächenländer die Bedingung der Einhaltung der intertemporalen Budgetrestriktion erfüllen. Die Tests für die einzelnen Ländern zeigen jedoch, dass nur drei Länder – zwei westliche (Hessen und Nordrhein-Westfalen) und ein östliches (Sachsen) – die Tragbarkeitsbedingung in dem betrachteten Zeitraum erfüllt haben, wobei das Ergebnis für Nordrhein-Westfalen nicht völlig eindeutig ist. -- In Germany the sustainability of fiscal policy is determined to a substantial part by the federal states (Bundeslaender). Their portion of the public debt amounts to nearly forty percent. In this study we test the sustainability of debt policies of the federal states on the basis of their intertemporal budget constraint. The fiscal policy of the federal states taken collectively is not sustainable. The same holds for the new eastern Laender and the city states (Stadtstaaten) whereas the fiscal policy of the western Laender seems to be consistent with the present-value budget constraint. However, econometric tests for the individual Laender show that the requirement for fiscal sustainability is fulfilled only by two western Laender, Hesse and North-Rhine Westphalia, and one eastern Land (Saxony).

Transparenz im Kommunalen Finanzsystem - Eine theoretische und empirische Analyse am Beispiel Nordrhein-Westfalens

In der Arbeit wird untersucht, ob die aktuelle Reform des kommunalen Buchführungssystems in Nordrhein-Westfalen das Potential besitzt, finanzpolitisches Fehlverhalten durch steigende Transparenz zu reduzieren. Hierzu werden in Kapitel 2 die zentralen institutionellen Neuerungen des doppischen Systems im Neuen Kommunalen Finanzmanagement mit den Instrumenten der Kameralistik in Hinblick auf Qualität und Quantität der veröffentlichten Informationen verglichen. In Kapitel 3 wird ein positiver Modellrahmen entwickelt, anhand dessen die Wirkungsweise von steigender Transparenz auf das Entscheidungsverhalten von Kommunalpolitikern durch den Yardstick Competition Effekt dargestellt werden kann. In Kapitel 4 wird unter Anwendung von Methoden der räumlichen Ökonometrie auf kommunale Haushaltsdaten der Jahre 1992 bis 2004 ein Hinweis darauf geliefert, dass die räumliche Korrelation in den Ausprägungen wichtiger fiskalpolitischer Variablen in Nordrhein-Westfalen auf die Existenz von Yardstick Competition zurückzuführen ist

Fermentability of whole oat flour, PeriTec flour and bran by Lactobacillus plantarum

4 páginas, 2 tablas, 1 figuraWhole oat flour obtained by hammer milling was fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum along with white flour and bran in order to compare the suitability of these substrates for the production of a probiotic beverage. The three substrates show a viable cell concentration at the end of fermentation above the minimum required in a probiotic product. The highest cell concentration was observed in white flour (9.16 Log10 CFU/mL) and the lowest in the bran sample (8.17 Log10 CFU/mL)Peer reviewe

Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms do not affect growth in fetal and early postnatal life. The Generation R Study

Background: Glucocorticoids have an important role in early growth and development. Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms have been identified that contribute to the variability in glucocorticoid sensitivity. We examined whether these glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms are associated with growth in fetal and early postnatal life.Methods: This study was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life onwards. The studied glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms included BclI (rs41423247), TthIIII (rs10052957), GR-9β (rs6198), N363S (rs6195) and R23K (rs6789 and6190). Fetal growth was assessed by ultrasounds in second and third trimester of pregnancy. Anthropometric measurements in early childhood were performed at birth and at the ages of 6, 14 and 24 months postnatally. Analyses focused on weight, length and head circumference. Analyses were based on 2,414 healthy, Caucasian children.Results: Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms were not associated with fetal weight, birth weight and early postnatal weight. Also, no associations were found with length and head circumference. Neither were these polymorphisms associated with the risks of low birth weight or growth acceleration from birth to 24 months of age.Conclusions: We found in a large population-based cohort no evidence for an effect of known glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms on fetal and early post

Gender differences in respiratory symptoms in 19-year-old adults born preterm

Objective: To study the prevalence of respiratory and atopic symptoms in (young) adults born prematurely, differences between those who did and did not develop Bronchopulmonary Disease (BPD) at neonatal age and differences in respiratory health between males and females. Methods: Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Nation wide follow-up study, the Netherlands. Participants: 690 adults (19 year old) born with a gestational age below 32 completed weeks and/or with a birth weight less than 1500g. Controls were Dutch participants of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). Main outcome measures: Presence of wheeze, shortness of breath, asthma, hay fever and eczema using the ECRHS-questionnaire

The 23K variant of the R23K polymorphism in the glucocorticoid receptor gene protects against postnatal growth failure and insulin resistance after preterm birth

Preterm birth is associated with postnatal growth failure, abdominal fat accumulation, insulin resistance, and hypertension, resembling increased glucocorticoid bioactivity. We tested the effects of the R23K and N363S polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid receptor gene, associated with decreased and increased sensitivity to cortisol, respectively, on linear growth and the adult metabolic profile in a cohort (n = 249) of men and women born less than 32 gestational weeks and followed up prospectively from birth until 19 yr of age. This was a birth cohort study that included 249 19-yr-old survivors born at a gestational age less than 32 wk from the Dutch Project on Preterm and Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants cohort. This project was a nationwide multicenter follow-up study. Linear growth and adult body composition, fasting cortisol, glucose, insulin, and cholesterol concentrations, and blood pressure were measured. The 23K variant (n = 24) was associated with lower fasting insulin levels [mean difference after log transformation: -0.09 (95% confidence interval -0.16, -0.01) mU/liter] and a lower homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance index [mean difference after log transformation: -0.09 (95% confidence interval -0.16, -0.01)] as well as with a taller stature departing from the age of 1 yr onward. 23K carriers showed complete catch-up growth between the ages of 3 months and 1 yr, and attained height was similar to the population reference mean, whereas stature in noncarriers was on average 0.5 sd below this mean. In contrast, the N363S polymorphism was not associated with any of the outcomes. Carriers of the 23K variant are, at least in part, protected against postnatal growth failure and insulin resistance after preterm birt