Dual Income Tax Reform in Germany. A Microsimulation Approach

This paper assesses the impact on household labor supply of a Dual Income Tax reform in Germany. It relies on GMOD, a population-based tax-benefit microsimulation model, and uses flexible mixed logit simulation estimators.Dual Income Tax, Labor Supply, Mixed Logit

The impact of copper production from manganese nodules: A simulation study

The first part of the paper describes the main features of the world copper industry, including consumption, inventories, prices, trade, primary and secondary supply as well as reserves and resources. In the second part an econometric model of the world copper market is derived; theoretical and empirical justifications are provided for some representative equations. Finally, the third part of the paper deals with the results of forecasting and simulation experiments performed with this model. A conditional forecast of the major future developments in the world copper industry and an assessment of the likely impact of ocean floor mining on the copper market constitute the main topics discussed in this part. Base case simulation results (without seabed mining) are reported and compared to three alternative scenarios assuming different recovery rates for copper from deep sea manganese nodules.

Auswirkungen von Steueränderungen im Bereich Entfernungspauschale und Werbungskosten : ein Mikrosimulationsmodell

Die vorliegende Arbeit dokumentiert ein neues Mikrosimulationsmodell für Werbungskosten, das im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen entwickelt wurde und das die Schwierigkeiten bisheriger erfahrungsbasierter Werbungskostenmodelle durch Einsatz moderner statistischer Verfahren überwindet. Das neue Modell erweist sich als flexibles, leicht zu handhabendes Instrument zur Quantifizierung der kurzfristigen Aufkommens und Verteilungswirkungen von Steuerreformen. Wir wenden es zur Analyse der Effekte wichtiger Änderungen des Einkommensteuergesetzes ab 1. Januar 2007 sowie einer Reihe von Alternativvorschlägen für die Abzugsfähigkeit von Werbungskosten aus nichtselbständiger Arbeit an.To overcome a lack of information in official income tax statistcs, we developed a statistical matching approach for adding additional data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) to the most recent official income tax statistics data as of 2002. Based on a representative dataset of more than 35000 original tax report extracts, we implemented a microsimulation model that calculates the fiscal impact of changes in the area of tax deductible income related expenses, in particular tax deductible expenses for traveling from home to work and the lump sum deductible for all income related expenses. The new model allows a more detailed simulation of the fiscal impact of changes in the German income tax law than previously possible

Contingent Valuation of Mining Land Reclamation in East Germany

Large parts of East German landscapes are formed by lignite mining activities. The mining pits destroy vast areas of the existing cultural landscapes. These areas have to be made re-accessible to society through extensive reclamation projects after mining has been finished. For an appraisal of the social benefits that need to be compared to the costs of these projects the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is the method of choice. The CVM measures the willingness to pay of households for such a project. This paper reports the findings of a Con-tingent Valuation study assessing the social utility created by a reclamation project north of the city of Cottbus in Brandenburg, Germany. The goal of the study is threefold. Firstly, the affected population's aggregate willingness to pay for the planned reclamation project is cal-culated; it amounts to 2.7 mil. Euro per year. Secondly, the determinants of this willingness to pay are analyzed. Apart from the expected positive impact of income on willingness to pay we find that it is also influenced by people's recreational activities, their general attitudes to-wards public spending and by their concerns about the economic situation. Thirdly, the study explores methodological specifics of an application of the CVM to Germany, especially in East Germany, by focusing on the appropriate design of the willingness to pay question which is an important feature still controversially discussed in the literature.contingent valuation;

Work and welfare of single mothers in Germany

Cet article s’intéresse au rôle des facteurs économiques dans la détermination de l’offre de travail et de la dépendance vis à vis des prestations sociales des mères iisolées en Allemagne. Il décrit en détail le système des transferts sociaux et met en évidence le fait que cette population est confrontée à une contrainte bugétaire non convexe qui s’accompagne d’une importante trappe à la pauvreté. Pour prendre ceci en compte, la décision d’offre de travail est modélisée comme le choix entre participation et non-participation puis entre temps plein et temps partiel. En utilisant des données tirées du Panel Socio-économique Allemand et des informations aux niveaux micro et macro-économique. Les résultats sont ensuite utilisés pour la simulation de réformes du système de transferts qui font actuellement l’objet de débats.This paper investigates the role of economic factors in the determination of labour supply and welfare dependenceof lone mothers in Germany. It describes the tax-benefit system where many lone mothers face a non –convex budget set, and a poverty trap. Accounting for this, we model the labour supply decision as a choice between participation and non-participation and of a part-time versus full-time participation. Using data of the German Socio-economic panel and aggregate information derived from the Microcensus, we estimate probit models combining micro and macro information. The results are used to siluate some reforms of the tax-benefit-system currently under discussion

Ein Simulationsmodell fuer den Weltnickelmarkt

Summary in EnglishAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel C 145853 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Anreizwirkungen der Steuerbefreiung des Existenzminimums: eine mikrooekonometrische Analyse alternativer Reformvorschlaege

Available from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel W 48 (123) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman