Vor der Bundestagswahl: Argumente für Mindestlöhne überzeugen nicht

For the first time ever, all political parties represented in the German Bundestag are proposing some form of minimum wage regulation in their federal campaigns. After sketching an overview of the vast empirical literature on the employment effects of minimum wages, which has yet to come to a consensus, the paper concentrates on the most common theoretical arguments for the view that minimum wages need not reduce the employment levels of affected workers. The authors find that those arguments are either conceptually inconsistent or assume market characteristics that can hardly describe the reality of low-wage labour markets. In the end, minimum wages are a blunt instrument to reduce poverty among workers — its primary objective — because it benefits many that are not poor and does not address the most important determinant of poverty in Germany, namely unemployment.     

Hat die Einführung der Abgeltungsteuer Aktienkurse beeinflusst?

This paper discusses findings of a current research project whose results indicate that the implementation of the German flat withholding tax on capital gains at the turn of the year 2008–09 led to a temporary but significant increase in trading volumes and share prices on the German stock market. As this capital gains tax reform had already been announced in 2007, corresponding market reactions imply a delayed dissemination of tax information. Hence, our results raise some doubt regarding the information-processing capacity of stock markets. This holds true especially in the following circumstances: 1) extensive trading activities of individual investors with limited information access and attention; 2) a strong focus by a large group of individual investors to a limited number of trading days (herd behaviour); and 3) limited liquidity in the market (e.g. stocks with a small market capitalisation).     

Ricardo und die Troika — für die Einführung einer EU-Bodenwertabgabe

From a Ricardian point of view, taxes should be most efficiently financed through land rents. In spatial terms, the land rents are highest in the European core countries and lowest at the margins of the peripheral states, which are currently in turmoil due to the economic crisis. The austerity policy of the troika is strangling these states economically. The authors propose a common European tax based on land values. Its revenues should be redistributed to the EU states according to the size of their population.     

Kalte Progression wird nach Einführung der Schuldenbremse ein zunehmendes Problem

As taxpayers typically pay relatively little attention to low levels of inflation induced income tax bracket creep, policy makers tend to regularly postpone correction of this problem. Eventually, however, the fiscal illusion fades away, and political pressure for tax relief arises once the cumulative increase of the average tax rate exceeds a critical threshold. Using Germany as an example, it is shown that bracket creep can provoke revenue cycles in public budgets that hinder governments’ compliance with the numerical budget rules. An indexation of the tax tariff, which would provide an automatic correction for bracket creep, could prevent such fluctuations and thus provide a favourable framework for the debt brake.     

Kombilöhne gegen Erwerbsarmut: Warum die USA erfolgreicher sind als Deutschland

“Make work pay” strategies are an integral part of labour market policy instruments in developed countries. There are two considerations behind these measures. Firstly, subsidizing employment at the bottom of the income distribution should motivate the unemployed to accept jobs with lower market wages. Secondly, the wage supplement should increase the living standards of the recipients and reduce the risk of poverty. The U.S. EITC and the German UB II based on these two goals. Our paper begins with an overview of these two wage top-up schemes. This is followed by an empirical evaluation of the two instruments regarding their capacity to prevent in-work poverty and to strengthen labour market participation. The EITC obtains better results compared to UB II in both regards.     

Hartz IV: die Lösung für die Probleme in der Währungsunion?

The Hartz reforms are often regarded as the therapy which turned the so called “sick man of Europe” into a global superstar. But this diagnosis was wrong. The strength of the German economy was overshadowed by the negative effects of reunification. The decline in unemployment can partly be attributed to the end of the transformation in East Germany. It also reflects the negative cyclical situation in 2005. This analysis is in line with the finding that compared e.g. with Italy and Greece, German unemployment assistance is still very generous. Thus, for the member states of the Eurozone Hartz IV is not a promising strategy. This could be different should wage moderation be cosnidered. However, if member states practice it simultaneously, this will lead to deflation. This calls for higher wage increases in Germany and a more symmetric adjustment.     

Den Anschluss nie gefunden: Die Ursachen der griechischen Tragödie

Die Eurogruppe hat Griechenland mit dem Argument vor dem Staatsbankrott gerettet, diese Situation sei durch die Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise ausgel?st und damit kurzfristig und vorübergehend. Die Autoren weisen demgegenüber nach, dass Griechenland schon seit langem über seine Verh?ltnisse lebt. Sie machen Vorschl?ge, wie das Land seine verlorene internationale Wettbewerbsf?higkeit wiedererlangen kann.     

Die Reform der föderalen Finanzverfassung: Wünsche und Wirklichkeit

Die Föderalismuskommission hatte den Umbau der Finanzverfassung nicht auf die Tagesordnung gesetzt, obwohl gerade hier von der Finanzwissenschaft Reformen zugunsten eines Wettbewerbsföderalismus gefordert werden. Warum finden die Forderungen der Finanzwissenschaft in der Politik so wenig Gehör?Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Rüdiger Pohl, 60, ist Inhaber der Lehrstuhls für Volkswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere Geld und Währung, an der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. Er war Sachverständiger in der Kommission von Bundestag und Bundesrat zur Modernisierung der bundesstaatlichen Ordnung (Bundesstaatskommission). Von 1986 bis 1994 war er Mitglied des Sachverständigenrats zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung und von 1994 bis 2004 Präsident des Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle.     

Neuregelung der Hinzuverdienstmöglichkeiten für Transferbeziehende: keine leichte Aufgabe

In its coalition agreement, the German government proposes a reorganisation of the rules of earned income to be considered as a means test of basic income. In doing so, it takes up a frequently voiced criticism of the design of the basic income support for job-seekers under Book II of the Social Code. In recent years, researchers have called for a strengthening of (monetary) incentives to work, especially to take up employment with higher weekly working hours. In this paper, we summarise potential effects of such a reform on labour supply, the income distribution and the government budget in the context of a complex welfare system characterised by a high level of benefit non-take-up.

     

Moralisierung in der Steuerpolitik: Was taugen die jüngsten Steuervorschläge?

Die Bundesregierung hat auf die steigende Staatsverschuldung mit zahlreichen Vorschl?gen zur Ausweitung der Besteuerung reagiert. Allen Vorschl?ge ist gemein, dass sie auf das Gerechtigkeitsempfi nden der Bev?lkerung abzielen und damit leichter durchsetzbar scheinen. Die Autoren erl?utern in diesem Beitrag, ob diese Steuervorschl?ge überhaupt mit den erwünschten Zielen übereinstimmen.     

Ersatz für die Grundsteuer: eine einfache,effiziente, kostengünstige und gerechte Lösung

The highest constitutional court in Germany recently declared that property tax is not in conformity with the constitution. A revision of the property tax laws needs to be undertaken but there is no consensus about a favourable solution yet. One of the main obstacles to a consensus is tackling the new assessments of over 35 million households and the ensuing wave of millions of lawsuits. This paper proposes avoiding those costs by slightly increasing the tax rates of the value added tax and income tax and giving the increased revenues to the municipalities as a substitute for the property tax. This procedure has at least two advantages: (1) It can take up and reflect the distributional effects of the property tax. (2) It is simple, efficient, economic and fair.     

20 Jahre EEG: Ist das Förderende für alte Anlagen ein Problem für die Energiewende?

In 2020 Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act celebrates its twentieth anniversary. Pioneers of the German energy transition, who have invested early in wind, photovoltaic and biomass plants, may expect this anniversary with sorrow. This is because it will also imply that public support expires for the first renewable energy installations, after 20 years of guaranteed feed in tariffs. It is unclear whether existing installations can be operated profitably without public support. Concerns are growing that the objectives of Germany’s energy transition may be difficult to attain if existing renewable energy plants go offline. Are these concerns justified? And if yes, how should they be addressed by public policy?     

Erderwärmung,Klimazoll und Klimaclub: Wie können die Paris-Ziele erfüllt werden?

Wirtschaftsdienst - Der Klimawandel und die damit einhergehende Erderwärmung gehören zu den wichtigsten Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Um die Ziele des Pariser Klimaabkommens zu...