Investitionen und Regulierung bei schnellen Internetzugängen in Deutschland und der Schweiz

The transition from copper-based internet access to ultra-fast broadband networks requires large investments. However, regulation has a serious impact on (private) investment incentives. We describe and evaluate the regulatory frameworks of European countries, in particular those of Germany and Switzerland. Our article argues that the ex-ante sector-specific regulation in EU countries like Germany, with its focus on cost-oriented access and service-based competition, is likely to have a detrimental effect on investment. In contrast, the Swiss approach of ex-post regulation provides a more conducive investment environment. We provide preliminary evidence on investment behaviour supporting our theoretical conclusions.     

EU-Handels- und Investitionspolitik — Freihandelsabkommen,Handelsschutzmaßnahmen und ausländische Investitionen

There are many controversial and contentious aspects of the EU’s trade and investment policy. To evaluate existing and forthcoming free trade agreements, the paper describes their potential economic effects. It analyses the effects of EU trade policy and of the new protectionism of the US.     

Regulierung der EU-Finanzmärkte

In the course of the recent financial, economic and debt crisis significant regulatory efforts have been taken to make financial markets more resilient. Not all of these regulations are effective. For example, it is hard to imagine that the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) and the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) are applicable to the largest of European banks, because the required minimum coverage of losses by shareholders and debtors would most likely trigger a systemic crisis. Furthermore, the many roles of the ECB may lead to severe conflicts of interest. It should be also reconsidered whether the planned Capital Market Union’s focus on the securitisation of loans and the promotion of direct investments by savers in the capital market makes sense.     

Kinderfreibeträge in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung

The future of the German pay as you go public pension system is dependent on families with children. In contrast to German tax law, there are no child allowances in the social insurance system. As a result, workers with and without children pay the same pension insurance contributions. This article analyses the introduction of a child allowance into the public pension system in Germany. We quantify the fiscal, distributional and behavioural effects of such a reform.     

Regulierung, Bildung und Wohlstand — der IW-Regulierungsindex

Education is considered as a key factor for the future development of an economy. Therefore, a well-designed education system is indispensable for a society to maintain or increase its welfare. The regulation of the education system is one of the main tools to which a government has recourse in order to infl uence the system. By using the regulation index created by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) K?ln), it is possible to quantify this regulation and to identify positive or negative trends. The authors show that a higher extent of regulation usually correlates with negative economic performance. In terms of education, the results indicate that a higher extent of regulation has a negative impact on the labour market, threatening sustainable long-term development of the economy.     

Verlustvorträge von Körperschaften in Deutschland

Intertemporale Verlustverrechnungen werden in Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich sehr gro?zügig behandelt. Wohl auch als Ergebnis von Gewinnverlagerungen ins Ausland haben die Verlustvortr?ge seit 1991 kontinuierlich zugenommen. Die Einführung einer Mindestgewinnbesteuerung hat diesen Prozess nicht aufhalten k?nnen. Um die ?ffentlichen Haushalte vor weiteren Einnahmeausf?llen zu bewahren, w?re es n?tig, die Vortragsf?higkeit von Verlusten zeitlich zu begrenzen.     

Altschuldenentlastung der Bundesländer: Verteilungswirkungen ausgewählter Vorschläge

Due to large public deficits in the past, many German states face high interest payments in their budgets today. Therefore, a restructuring of this outstanding debt will be a major topic in forthcoming negotiations on the future design of the fiscal equalisation scheme. This article presents some proposals that are currently being discussed and calculates their redistributional effects between the federal government and the states. It is shown that all models would lead to a significantly higher burden for the federal budget. The only way to afford this is either to increase the value added tax rates or to keep the so-called solidarity surcharge that was originally introduced to finance transfers to East Germany.     

25 Jahre Maastrichter Verträge — reale Divergenzen und institutionelle Reformen

The paper argues that 18 years after the introduction of the Euro, the European Monetary Union has yet been unable to achieve sufficient real economic convergence among its member economies. As a result, the European Central Bank (ECB) still faces a dilemma in the sense that the common monetary policy is unable to meet current policy requirements in both boom and recession countries. Of course, the extensive asset purchase programmes of the ECB in the aftermath of the Euro crisis provided the necessary time for policy reforms, but deep rooted structural problems in a number of member countries and a divergent understanding of macroeconomic policy have remained and will lead to sustained high tensions in the eurozone in the foreseeable future.     

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.     

Brexit und Ausländerbeschäftigung in Großbritannien: vom Musterland zum Bollwerk?

In the course of the EU’s Eastern enlargement, the United Kingdom was one of the few EU 15 countries which took advantage of the opportunities provided by the freedom of movement for workers from the beginning. Since then, the United Kingdom is prospering and still relies heavily on migrant workers. As the empirical analysis shows, labour migration from the accession countries was not a determining factor in the outcome of the Brexit vote. It was rather the less educated voters who perceive a threat to their social status and their national identity as the EU’s grows. As a result, a policy discussion on varying EU policies is advisable.     

Flexible Geschäftsmodelle in der Telekommunikation und die Netzneutralitätsdebatte

The net neutrality debate concerns the differential treatment of data on the Internet and the pricing models used by enduser internet service providers (IPSs). In particular, end-user ISPs may want to prioritize certain services and charge on the sender or the receiver side for this activity. In the policy debate it is asked whether regulatory intervention is warranted to restrict such behavior. The introduction of new end-user tariffs for fixed-line Internet access by Deutsche Telekom has heated up the debate in Germany. At the national level, the German Ministry of Economics and Technology has prepared a draft regulation on net neutrality, which aims at limiting the differential treatment of data transmission on the internet including the access networks and, thus, to protect the “Open Internet”. The European Commission has prepared an alternative draft regulation for a single European market in telecommunications, which contains provisions for an “Open Internet”. In this article, the authors investigate the extent to which the new tariff structure by Deutsche Telekom relates to the net neutrality debate. They also provide a first critical analysis of the proposals by the German Ministry of Economics and Technology and the European Commission.     

Aktuelle Reformvorschläge zum Einkommensteuertarif

Wirtschaftsdienst - Der aktuelle Einkommensteuertarif belastet Mittelschichten und Besserverdienende relativ stark durch den schnellen Anstieg der Progression. Entlastungen durch eine Anhebung des...     

Quo vadis Kita-Beiträge?

The debate over abolishing day care fees in Germany is ongoing. Coming from an education and family economics perspective, this contribution summarises various arguments pro and contra different day care fee systems. The following questions are addressed: How much is paid in fees over the entire income distribution? How do fees differ by region and provider? And how would households react if there were no longer any day care fees? In addition to discussing the huge variety of fee systems, other issues which contribute to a very diverse day care system are also briefly described. Overall, more intense federal engagement is needed, which makes sense given the nation-wide benefits of a qualitatively high level of day care quality.