The Political Economy of Fiscal Supervision and Budget Deficits: Evidence from Germany

In many federal countries, local governments run large deficits, even when fiscal supervision by state authorities is tight. I investigate to which extent party alignment of governments and fiscal supervisors influences budget deficits. The dataset includes 427 German local governments for the period 2000–2004. I exploit a period after a far-reaching institutional reform that entirely re-distributed political powers on both the government level and the fiscal supervisor level. Results do not show that party alignments of governments and supervisors (co-partisanship) drive short-term deficits. Instead, I find that the ideology of partisan governments and supervisors matters: left-wing local governments run higher deficits than their right-wing counterparts; left-wing supervisors tolerate higher deficits than right-wing supervisors. These findings imply that political independence for fiscal supervisors is recommended

Parasites in food chains

While in high-income countries, the majority of people die from non-communicable, chronic conditions, nearly 40% of deaths in developing countries are among children under 15 years. Diarrhoea is among the top 10 leading causes of death and many cases are caused by pathogens transmitted in food and water supplies. This paper introduces major representatives of foodborne parasites and aims to show why they are no longer a public health concern of low-income countries only. Approaches used in assessing and managing the risk of foodborne parasitoses will be presented

Sécurité sanitaire des aliments et marchés informels: les produits d’origine animale en Afrique Subsaharienne

German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbei

Hospital Policy and Productivity: Evidence from German States

Total factor productivity (TFP) growth allows for additional health care services under restricted resources. We examine whether hospital policy can stimulate hospital TFP growth. We exploit variation across German federal states in the period 1993 to 2013. State governments decide on hospital capacity planning (number of hospitals, departments and beds), ownership, medical students, and hospital investment funding. We show that TFP growth in German hospital care reflects quality improvements rather than increases in output volumes. Second-stage regression results indicate that reducing the length of stay is generally a proper way to foster TFP growth. The effects of other hospital policies depend on the reimbursement scheme: under activity-based (DRG) hospital funding, scope-related policies (privatization, specialization) come with TFP growth. Under fixed daily rate funding, scale matters to TFP (hospital size, occupancy rates). Differences in capitalization in East and West Germany allows to show that deepening capital may enhance TFP growth if capital is scarce. We also show that there is less scope for hospital policies after large-scale restructurings of the hospital sector

Fit for human consumption? A descriptive study of Wambizzi pig abattoir, Kampala, Uganda

German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbei

Food safety research for development in sub-Saharan Africa: Tapping the expertise of German partners

According to recent estimates by the World Health Organization, the global burden of foodborne diseases is comparable to that of HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis or malaria. Up to 90% of foodborne disease is caused by microbes in perishable foods of which more than 80% are sold in the informal agri-food system. Informal markets, also referred to as wet or traditional markets, are characterized by local products, prices, and marketing channels where actors are often not trained, not licensed, and not paying taxes. However, these markets provide food and jobs to millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. They are also the major markets for most smallholder producers of fresh foods. Lack of evidence on attribution data and limited understanding of risk-based approaches in food safety management only worsen the problem. The Safe Food, Fair Food project, funded by GIZ and led by the International Livestock Research Institute, aims to improve the livelihoods of poor producers and consumers by reducing the health risks and increasing the livelihood benefits associated with meat, milk and fish value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2008-2015 the project was implemented in ten countries South of the Sahara with partners from Africa, Germany and Japan. Key findings include: • Informal markets are integral to food, nutrition and job security in sub-Saharan Africa; • Although hazards are often common in informal markets risk to human health is not necessarily high; • Risks in the informal food chains have been under-researched and need attention; • Risks vary and may not be as serious as perceived: food safety policy should be based on evidence not perceptions; • Participatory methods are useful in studying food safety risks in informal food chains; • Simple interventions could lead to substantial improvements: potable water, electricity, training, standards, appropriate hygienic supervision etc.; • Food safety needs a multi-disciplinary (One Health) and multi-sectoral approach; • Comprehensive, jointly developed and implemented policies are prerequisites for food safety assurance. German partner institutions engaged were the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Freie Universität Berlin, Friedrich-Löffler-Institute, and University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim. More than 30 food safety practitioners, students and scientists were trained in specific laboratory methods for hazard identification (i.e. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Toxoplasma gondii or Trichinella spp.) at German partner institutes or in their home countries, and field isolates were archived at German partner institutes. More than 200 key stakeholders at over 35 institutions in 12 countries were trained on the concepts of risk-based approaches and (participatory) risk assessment. Joint risk assessments and pilot interventions for improving food safety have been disseminated in 15 peer-reviewed journal publications and more than 200 other outputs