Für einen einfachen,transparenten und effizienten Finanzausgleich

Tax revenues are allocated to the “Länder”-budgets in a very complicated process which lacks any transparency and unsurprisingly has been (and is currently) the subject of numerous legal suits at the Federal Constitutional Court. But the most striking feature of the whole system is its final outcome: a nearly equal distribution (per head) of tax revenues among all 16 states. If that is the aim, the process could be achieved much more easily. The authors suggest a central tax administration, a political determination of the state’s tax share and a distribution of that share among the single states according to the population, partly weighted with the states domestic product per head. Such a system is simple and transparent and apt to fulfill distributional as well as allocational purposes.     

Nimmt der Länderfinanzausgleich den Anreiz zum Steuervollzug?

The German Länder are increasingly coming under criticism for insufficiently fulfilling their federal duty to enforce tax. A reason suggested for this is the lack of financial incentives: the Länder have to bear the staffing costs, but as a result of fiscal equalisation among Germany’s federal states, they are only allowed to keep a fraction of the additional income collected. The author shows that this is a myth: additional tax inspectors would still bring in good returns for the Länder. Moreover, it is the financially stronger states that are allowed to keep a larger share of their tax income, but which carry out fewer inspections. Thus, higher financial incentives are linked with poorer tax enforcement.     

Die Schuldenbremse der Bundesländer: eine Fehlkonstruktion?

The debt brake for the German Länder, which forbids them from taking on new net debt beginning in 2020, has two major shortcomings. First, the Länder do not have tax autonomy. In fiscal crises, they can only adjust on the expenditure side, not on the revenue side. Given the fact that most expenditure is predetermined by law, in such a crisis, a balanced budget without new debt would hardly be feasible. Second, it is not taken into account that, in particular in small regional units, large investments can hardly be financed by current expenditure. Thus, there is a very high probability that at least some Länder will still take on new net debt after 2020 and, therefore, violate the rules of the debt brake.     

Die verbogene Verfassung — zur Neuregelung der Bund-Länder-Finanzbeziehungen ab 2020

The federal legislature has adopted a new system of intergovernmental fiscal relations from 2020 onwards which will change the federal structure of Germany considerably. In particular, the abolition of the horizontal equalisation among the Länder (Länderfinanzausgleich) and its replacement by an equalisation of fiscal power (Finanzkraftausgleich) within the distribution of the revenues of sales taxes changes the underlying structure of the German federal state fundamentally. The new legislation indicates this shift of the federal balance: the federation will take over the construction of motorways completely. Federal authorities also gain new powers in controlling the use of federal funds by the Länder. Instead of a balance of the federation and the Länder we will get a dominance of the federation.     

Der Reformationstag als gesetzlicher Feiertag und seine fiskalischen Effekte

In the German system of fiscal equalisation, Länder (states) with below-average tax revenue receive above average payments. The difference between the average and the own tax revenue per capita is compensated up to 63%. To prevent states from getting payments from other states by lowering their own tax rates, tax revenue with taxing autonomy is standardised. States can also influence their tax revenues by changing the number of holidays because each state decides on its own. In 2018, the Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig Holstein introduced designated Reformation Day as a holiday (Berlin also plans to add a holiday). A state with numerous holidays will have lower tax revenues and higher payments in the fiscal equalisation system than the same state with no extra holidays. To consider each state’s real ability to pay the fiscal equalisation system, it is necessary to eliminate the effect of differing holidays. This paper shows the fiscal consequence of the new holiday and a way to neutralise this effect and calculates the impact to the states’ payments in the fiscal equalisation system.     

Ein Risikostrukturausgleich für die Bundesländer

In Germany, a lively debate about the reform of the financial equalisation scheme between the member states (“Länder”) is under way. There is broad consensus that the member states’ financial responsibility has to be strengthened. A reduction of the transfer level of tax receipts from high-income to low-income states could achieve this objective, but at the cost of solidarity between states. To avoid this trade-off, the authors propose an indicator-based risk adjustment scheme. Their aim is to equalise different financial needs, not only differences in tax revenues across states. Risk adjustment schemes are a well-established instrument, especially in social health care systems.     

Twenty-Five Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: An Empirical Revisit of West German Consumers' Attitudes Toward Products and Brands from Former East Germany

More than 25 years after the German reunification, data show that products/brands from the eastern regions of Germany (“Neue Länder”) still do not have significant shares in the country's western part (“Alte Länder”). To analyze potential reasons for this phenomenon, our current study replicates a previous study that investigated selected attitudes of Alte Länder consumers toward products/brands from the Neue Länder. It is shown that factors such as consumer ethnocentrism, product judgment, willingness to buy, and economic animosity continue to influence consumer behavior and as such our study offers potential explanation for the failure of Neue Länder products/brands in the western regions of Germany.     

Ausgaben der Länder in zukunftsorientierten Aufgabenbereichen

In recent years, the German federal states (Länder) have increased their engagement in many policy areas at the centre of current public debate (e.g. public safety, education and infrastructure). However, this cannot be confirmed using official data from the statistical office, since the annual statistics of expenditure and revenue — the only data source with this task reference — is current only through 2011. The author has tried to close this gap using data for the core budgets of the Länder which the national agency has not yet published. The results show that the Länder are more involved than widely perceived in all three functions of government examined here.     

Die Notwendigkeit der Einwohnerwertung

German equalisation systems among states (Länder) and among communities assign higher expenditure needs to larger cities. For the system among the states (Länderfinanzausgleich), in which the three city-states are assigned a value of 135 compared to a value of 100 for the other states, this element is challenged in a pending case before the constitutional court. The paper argues that the city-states should be treated like any large city in Germany, which would result in their being assigned a value well above 135. The main justification for the higher value for larger cities is seen in the crucial role of modern agglomerations for national economic growth. To maintain this role, they have to be able to keep or receive enough public finances, given that they contribute to upper-level finances way above the average but receive relatively little through those levels’ spending. The progressive scale smoothes at least some of this effect.     

Wettbewerb zwischen wirtschaftspolitischen Modellen in Europa

In 2000 the European Union adopted its motto, of “Unity in diversity”. But in fact, economic policy regimes differ among member states and the people are not willing to leave the current path or to vote for painful political actions. In the midst of the present crisis, Europe is at the crossroads. Should people decide on a new constitution which allows more centralisation of powers, or should the principle of subsidiarity be reinforced? Problems in the eurozone intensified the coordination and monitoring of economic policy of the member states. The preconditions for a competition among different economic policy regimes vanish more and more. Institutional competition is not only price (tax) competition, but also quality (yardstick) competition. This is shown using debt brakes as a role model for other member countries of the European Union. But the debt brakes of the German Länder show that it can be problematic to transfer an institution from one country to another without taking into account its institutional environment.     

Eine reformierte Finanzverfassung muss für künftige Aufgaben gewappnet sein

Negotiations between the federal level and the Länder to reform the German fiscal equalisation system have begun. Major laws concerning the support of the East German Länder and the system of fiscal equalisation in general have to be replaced by 2020. However, instead of debating the design of the future fiscal equalisation with an emphasis on attaining the constitutionally anchored goal of guaranteeing equivalent living standards throughout the country, the publicly discussed proposals focus too narrowly on incremental changes. They fail to take account of future and current social and economic challenges such as demographic change and regional disparities.     

Handwerksunternehmen im Fokus der Regionalförderung?

The Joint Federal/Länder Scheme for the Improvement of Regional Economic Structures is a core instrument of German regional policy. Currently, large parts of the skilled crafts sector are not eligible for funding. However, craft enterprises play an important role for economic and social stability in less developed regions. The several examples given in this paper refer to vocational education and training, non-R&D-based innovation, the satisfaction of local demand for goods and services and various effects on regional income development. In light of this, it is argued that regional policy could place a stronger emphasis on craft enterprises in the future.     

Eastern Germany's quality as a business location

Private investment has a key role to play in the “economic take-off” in Eastern Germany. Can the region attract sufficient investment? What factors stand in the way of a rapid improvement in the quality of the new Länder as a location?     

Tax Competition and Tax Revenues

It is often feared that tax competition might lead to a “race to the bottom” and that the consequence of a reduction in tax rates on capital income would be shrinking capital income tax revenues and difficulties for national governments to perform their usual tasks. The following paper analyses what happened to tax revenues in a number of OECD countries. It turns out that taxes on capital income contribute to the financing of public expenditure to a more or less unchanged extent; nor are there significant changes in the level and structure of total tax revenues.      

The transformation of the eastern German economy

The eastern German economy has experienced a great deal in the five years since German reunification: an unexpectedly profound collapse following the Monetary, Economic and Social Union of July 1990; a massive loss of jobs with resulting social and political consequences; and an increasingly stable economic recovery. In which branches is recovery most dynamic? Where does the structural transformation seem to be leading? And which branches have the best chances of self-sustained growth in the future? This short analysis attempts to answer these questions, to demonstrate the different trends among the branches of the economy and thereby to underscore the differentiation within the economic transformation process in the new Länder.     

Tabaksteuer in Griechenland: steuerpolitische Fehlentscheidungen

Both Germany and Greece increased tobacco taxes beginning in 2010. Tobacco taxation in both countries is primarily aimed at generating revenues and at steering the behaviour of individuals affected by the taxation. The tobacco tax structure particularly in Greece has evolved from a mainly ad valorem excise to a specific excise. The comparison of both countries shows that the German tax system is able to generate stable revenues while Greek tobacco taxation policy leads to tax evasion activities among smokers.     

Unzureichende Ausschöpfung der Realsteuern — das Beispiel Rheinland-Pfalz

In Germany, state and local authorities repeatedly come into conflict with one another regarding the funding of municipal budgets. The sufficient fiscal endowment of local public authorities depends not only on a satisfactory provision of state grants but also requires an adequate exhaustion of existing sources of revenues at the local government level. Against this background, the paper analyses local tax policy in order to assess whether the budget finance potential is being sufficiently exploited. Taking Rhineland-Palatinate as a case study, the degree of tax exploitation (local business tax, local property tax) is empirically estimated for the time period 2009 to 2015.     

Neuregelung des bundesstaatlichen Finanzausgleichs: Umverteilungs- und Verbleibseffekte

The paper explores effects of the revision of the system of fiscal equalisation in Germany as recently agreed upon by the federal and state governments. More specifically, using a simulation analysis, it explores the distribution of gains and losses associated with changes in horizontal and vertical fiscal flows. In addition, the paper determines the degree of fiscal redistribution. While the degree of fiscal redistribution is found to be reduced for major revenue sources, local tax revenues are subject to much higher redistribution than under the status quo. Increases in local tax revenues might even result in total revenue losses for some states.     

Neuordnung der Besteuerungskompetenzen bei der Einkommensteuer

The controversies over the reform of the German intergovernmental fiscal equalisation system generally concern the equalisation formula at the last step of the tax-sharing system. In order to achieve a financial architecture that truly corresponds with the tasks of the federal government, the states and the municipalities, the tax-sharing schedules also need to be reconsidered. To share the personal income tax according to proportional tax rates for the states and municipalities and to leave the progressive tax rates to the federal level would not only deliver horizontally more equal tax revenues for the sub-federal tiers of government but also increase the vertical flexibility of tax distribution if the federal and state governments then had the right to change “their” tax rates without the approval of the Bundesrat or Bundestag.     

Außenhandel,Arbeitsmärkte und die globale Verteilung der Einkommen

The authors assess the scope and sources of changes in the technical efficiency of German hospital care in the period 1993 to 2013. German states (Länder) differ substantially in terms of efficiency. The length of stay is the most important driver of efficiency, while the effects of other policy measures depend on funding systems and regional idiosyncrasies. For example, East German hospitals were drastically restructured after reunification, reducing the scope for further improvements. In West Germany, by contrast, increased capital could enhance efficiency. The authors conclude that appropriate policy measures should be pursued, especially in West Germany, in order to increase efficiency.