Local Determinants of Crime: Distinguishing between Resident and Non-Resident Offenders

The paper revisits the local determinants of crime using a spatial model distinguishing between resident and non-resident offenders. Employing data for German municipalities, the model is estimated by means of a spatial GMM approach. Focusing on resident offenders legal earnings opportunities and the expected gain from offenses are found to be important determinants of crime. Also the socio-economic background in terms of unemployment, poverty, and inequality proves significant for both property and violent crime. Whereas local inequality only shows an effect on crime committed by resident offenders, crime committed by non-resident offenders is shown to be significantly related to the characteristics in adjacent municipalities such as unemployment and income.Crime, Causes of Crime, Cross-Sectional Study, Spatial Econometrics, Crime Spillovers, Neighborhood Effects, Instrumental Variables

Spatial Implications of Minimum Wages

This paper addresses possible consequences of a minimum wage in a spatial context. An empirical analysis utilizing German data shows that a signifcant spatial wage structure exists and that, as a consequence, the share of workers earning wages below a minimum wage will be particularly high in rural counties even if we control for educational and occupational differences. A theoretical analysis discusses the implications for the spatial structure of the economy and shows that while the wages in the countryside will be affected positively, wages will decline in the city, where employment and population rise. Workers in the city will further suffer from an increase in housing costs. This supports concerns that urban poverty might increase as a result of the introduction of a minimum wage.Minimum Wages; Urban Poverty; Spatial Wage Structure; Mobility; Economies of Agglomeration

Tax Incentives and the Location of FDI: Evidence from a Panel of German Multinationals

Using a firm-level dataset this paper investigates the impact of taxation on the decision of German multinationals to hold direct investments in other European countries or abroad. Controlling for firm-specific differences in the valuation of potential locations, the results confirm significant effects of tax incentives, market size, and of labor cost on cross-border location decisions. In accordance with Devereux and Griffith (1998) we find that the marginal tax rate has no predictive power for location decisions whereas effective average and statutory tax rates exert significant effects. In particular, the statutory tax rate has strong predictive power for the likelihood of direct investment holdings at a location. The results indicate that an increase in the statutory tax rate by 10 percentage points reduces the odds of observing some positive direct investment by approximately 20 %. --

Labor Market Effects of Economic Integration - The Impact of Re-Unification in German Border Regions

The paper argues that economic integration causes problems for the labor market of high-wage countries due to cross-border labor mobility and the accompanying increase in labor supply. Empirical evidence is provided from an analysis of regional labor market effects of German re-unification. In the aftermath of the re-unification shock, despite some gain in employment, border regions situated on the former German-German border are found to have experienced a fall in the relative wage position and an increase in unemployment relative to other West-German regions. As this points to adverse labor supply effects for resident workers due to cross-border labor mobility, this result is bad news for EU regions situated on the border with the Accession countries in Central and Eastern Europe.economic integration, border regions, EU enlargement, German re-unification, differences in differences estimation

Quality of Life in the Regions - Results for German Counties

In order to assess differences in living conditions across German regions we apply the hedonic approach of Rosen (1979) and Roback (1982) to land-price and wage differences across Germany’s counties. Employing a recent survey of more than half a million Germans on a wide range of social and political issues we confirm that differences in amenities give rise to substantial differences in land prices. With regard to wages, however, we find only little effects of amenities. Relying on the land-price effects we assess the quality of life in each of the German counties and provide a comprehensive ranking.Land prices; regional income differentials; hedonic regression; quality of life; compensating wage differentials

Steuerwettbewerb und Finanzausgleich

Angesichts der unvermindert anhaltenden Steuerkonkurrenz in der EU wird im politischen Raum vermehrt gefordert, die Zuteilung der Strukturfonds an eine Mindestbesteuerung zu knüpfen. Ungeachtet ihrer strategischen Natur lassen sich diese Forderungen im Prinzip durchaus im Rahmen der Theorie des Fiskalföderalismus rechtfertigen. Sie entsprechen der Logik eines Finanzausgleichs. Ein entsprechender europäischer Finanzausgleich würde allerdings so gravierende Probleme aufwerfen, dass an einer Reduktion der tariflichen Steuersätze in Deutschland kein Weg vorbeiführt. Ohnehin eignen sich die Strukturfonds nicht als Druckmittel, da sie aufgrund der Kofinanzierung die Mitgliedsländer der EU eher dazu veranlassen, ihre Steuersätze zu erhöhen.Steuerwettbewerb, Finanzausgleich, EU-Strukturfonds, Deutschland, EU-Staaten

Die Lohnkurve in den westdeutschen Kreisen : eine Analyse auf der Basis regionaler Durchschnittslöhne (The Wage Curve in West German districts : an analysis using local average wages)

"The Wage Curve is estimated using average wage data for 327 West German districts for the years 1987-1993. Detailed information on the sectoral composition of employment is used tocontrol for the sectoral wage structure. The influence of the choice of the spatial units is reduced by taking into account spatial correlation in the wages. Using wage data of two different sources a highly significant but rather low effect of the local unemployment rate on the wage level is found. At higher levels of unemployment, the wage curve becomes flat. The sectoral wage structure is revealed to exert a strong influence on local wages. In the case of wage data from the official statistics a 1:1 relation to the local average of national sectoral wages holds, ceteris paribus. Among the other explaining factors are the wage level at the neighboring counties and the population density." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Lohnkurve, Lohnhöhe, Arbeitslosigkeit - Auswirkungen, regionaler Arbeitsmarkt, sektorale Verteilung, Westdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Reform der Gemeindefinanzen

Zentraler Gegenstand der Reformdiskussion ist die gemeindliche Steuerautonomie, diegegenwärtig vor allem durch die Wahl des Hebesatzes bei der Gewerbesteuer ausgeübtwird. Trotz aller Kritik halten die Gemeinden an der Gewerbesteuer fest. Wie der Vortragzeigt, ist dies letztlich durch den Finanzausgleich zu erklären. Im gegenwärtigenSystem ist der Steuerwettbewerb durch den kommunalen Finanzausgleich austariert.Die Substitution durch eine Einkommensteuer würde das System fundamental ändernund erforderte eine Anpassung aller Finanzausgleichssysteme, die für die Gemeindenmit erheblichen Risiken verbunden ist. Als sinnvolle Reformalternative bietet sich dieRevitalisierung der Grundsteuer an.Gewerbesteuer, Grundsteuer, Kommunaler Finanzausgleich, Steuerwettbewerb, Lokale Einkommensteuer

Caveat Emptor: Gläubigerschutz ist keine Lösung

Ungeachtet des Maastricht-Vertrags wird vielerorts in Europa versichert, dass man eine Zahlungsunfähigkeit Griechenlands abwenden wird. Dies wird in erster Linie den Gläubigern griechischer Staatsanleihen nutzen und ist im Kern die gleiche Konstellation, die auch der weltweiten Finanzkrise zugrunde liegt: Spekulative Geschäfte, die hohe Gewinne versprechen, werden von privaten Anlegern getätigt – mögliche Verluste müssen dann von der Allgemeinheit getragen werden.Gläubiger, Finanzmarktkrise, Öffentliche Anleihe, Griechenland

Public Sector Centralization and Productivity Growth: Reviewing the German Experience

The paper examines the role of the vertical structure of the public sector for economic growth in Germany in a long?term perspective. A theoretical model shows that, due to spillover effects of public service provision across lower level governments, federal government activities could have substantially contributed to productivity growth. A review of the German experience starting in the last quarter of the 19th century shows that the overall development is consistent with a stimulating role of the federal government in general and in specific areas like, for instance, transport and communication. However, a further empirical analysis of the period after World War II raises doubts about the efficiency of the vertical structure of the public sector with regard to productivity growth, since the results indicate that a smaller budget share of the state level would have benefited growth. --Public sector centralization,public inputs,economic growth,fiscal federalism