Grundsteuerreform in Deutschland: eine unendliche Geschichte?

For many years property tax in its current form has been exhibiting increasing problems. There are three reform models currently being discussed that differ in their respective tax bases using either property values or areas, or both. They create different individual tax burdens and amounts of tax revenue in each state compared to the current property tax amount which alters local tax capacity within the fiscal equalisation system among the 16 states. The calculations on regional local tax revenue prove that the value-based models which promote greater equity are being neglected by the financially strong states. This is because they would be forced to provide higher transfer payments to the financially weaker states.     

Die Kosten der Flüchtlingskrise in Deutschland – eine Investition in die Zukunft?

The high costs of the refugee crisis are often a subject of public discussion. However, one should distinguish between the fiscal and the overall economic effects of this current wave of immigration. A financial economic model shows that the “fiscal break-even” point can be reached by the year 2031. This is the first point at which the taxes and contributions of employed refugees exceed the costs to the public sector resulting from the refugees who are not in the labour market. The “economic break-even” point can be reached as early as 2025 if the gross value added contributions of the employed refugees by that time exceed the costs of caring for and integrating the refugees who are not in employment. This will require a “smart” integration of the refugees into the labour market, requiring high investment in the qualification of individuals and a flexible use of labour policy tools.     

Fracking in Deutschland — eine Option für die Zukunft!

Extraction of shale gas in Germany (fracking) is better left as an option for the future. Today, owners of deposits in many other countries have uncertain property rights and extract too quickly. German deposits may appreciate in value if left in the ground. They also better contribute to national energy security there than if extracted and depleted. Waiting also allows Germany to learn from the mistakes of others and to take this new information and the improvements in extraction technology into account when deciding about extraction in the future. Such decisions should not be left to the resource extraction industries. Their objectives are likely to differ from the objective of maximising the rent from the nation’s shale gas.     

Umbruch bei der Eisenbahn in Deutschland?

Wirtschaftsdienst - Die Politik hat der Eisenbahn eine wichtige Rolle bei der Senkung der Emissionen zugedacht. Aktuell zeigt sich allerdings, dass die DB AG als wichtigstes Unternehmen der Branche...     

Wie sollte das Steuersystem in Deutschland reformiert werden?

Some authors focus on the fact that Germany shows one of the highest tax burdens among the OECD countries. Based on their analysis, they suggest approaches to reduce the tax burden in particular for lower and medium incomes. These tax reliefs are possible, and would not compromise new public investment. But decreases in personal income tax rates mainly relieve higher income earners and are accompanied by high tax losses if the top tax rates are not increased. Alternatives are relief for social contributions or VAT. Other researchers do not look at the tax burden this way: as the income tax burden in Germany is not high from a historical perspective or by international standards, there is no case for massive tax cuts, as this would jeopardise the government’s ability to act and fail to correct past shifts of the tax burden at the expense of households with low incomes. Any tax cuts should be targeted at the bottom half of the income distribution without creating any revenue shortfalls. Instead, the government would be well advised to increase its efforts to overcome the public investment backlog and ensure a well functioning civil service. Furthermore, sustainability oriented tax reforms should focus on a shift of the tax burden from taxes on labour towards environmental and wealth based taxes.     

Forschungsförderung in Deutschland — effektiv und zielgerichtet?

Public subsidies for research and development (R&D) are acknowledged to stimulate R&D activities. But Oliver Koppel complains that the subsidies are only used to support projects directly, while tax incentives remain lacking, especially in Germany, one of only a few OECD countries without tax-based research funding. Concerning small and medium-sized enterprises, the authors demand that decision makers account for their heterogeneous nature by further differentiating these firms based on activity and other factors.     

Bildungsföderalismus in Deutschland

Wirtschaftsdienst - The German education system is under enormous pressure to change. In order to prepare the schools for the future and to enable large investment programmes, the federal...     

Hat Deutschland ein Marktmachtproblem?

The long-term development of market power and business concentration is attracting considerable international attention. This is being driven by an intersectoral increase in market power — particularly in the USA but also in other countries — as observed in current empirical research. This is seen as a cause for macroeconomic developments. The Monopolies Commission — which has the mandate in Germany to report on business concentration — concluded in its current report that although the concentration of turnover in Germany has recently been relatively constant, the price-cost markups of companies have risen significantly after the crisis. In addition, indirect corporate links via institutional investors represent a potential competition problem.     

Wie sollte die Armut in Deutschland bekämpft werden?

Die Ver?ffentlichung des 3. Armuts- und Reichtumsberichts der Bundesregierung hat in der ?ffentlichkeit Betroffenheit ausgel?st. Wie wird Armut gemessen und wie sollte sie bek?mpft werden? Die Autoren unseres Zeitgespr?chs: Prof. Dr. Richard Hauser, 71, ist Emeritus des Lehrstuhls für Volkswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere Verteilungs- und Sozialpolitik, an der Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universit?t in Frankfurt am Main. Prof. Dr. Ronnie Sch?b, 46, ist Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Internationale Finanzpolitik an der Freien Universit?t Berlin; Dr. Andreas Knabe, 30, ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Lehrstuhl für Finanzwissenschaft an der Otto-von-Guericke-Universit?t in Magdeburg. Prof. Dr. Stephan Leibfried, 64, ist Sprecher des Sonderforschungsbereichs „Staatlichkeit im Wandel“ und Ko-Leiter der Abteilung „Institutionen und Geschichte des Wohlfahrtsstaates“ sowie stellvertretender Sprecher des Zentrum für Sozialpolitik der Universit?t Bremen; Dr. Petra Buhr, 48, ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für empirische und angewandte Soziologie der Universit?t Bremen. Prof. Dr. Gert G. Wagner, 55, ist Lehrstuhlinhaber für Volkswirtschaftslehre an der TU Berlin, Leiter der L?ngsschnittstudie SOEP (Soziooekonomisches Panel) am DIW Berlin, und Vorsitzender der Kammer für Soziale Ordnung der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (EKD).     

Selbstständige Migranten in Deutschland

Die Selbstst?ndigkeit von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund ger?t in den letzten Jahren vermehrt in das Blickfeld von Politikern, Wissenschaftlern und der allgemeinen ?ffentlichkeit. Was aber sind die besonderen Merkmale von selbstst?ndigen Migranten gegenüber selbstst?ndigen Deutschen und wie lassen sich diese Unterschiede erkl?ren? Andreia Tolciu (M.E.S), 27, ist Doktorandin am Hamburgischen WeltWirtschaftsInstitut (HWWI) und Stipendiatin der Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft; Ann-Julia Schaland, 26, Dipl.-Geografin, ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin in der Migration Research Group am HWWI und Stipendiatin der Edmund Siemers-Stiftung.     

Verlierer(-regionen) der Globalisierung in Deutschland: Wer? Warum? Was tun?

We describe the impact of globalisation across West German regional labour markets. The main losers are the Ruhr area, the Palatinate and Upper Franconia. The main winning regions are located mainly in Bavaria and Swabonia. The German manufacturing sector at large has gained from rising trade exposure to China and Eastern Europe. This is in sharp contrast to the experience of the United States and some European countries. The German experience could be one reason why the political discussion in this country is less prone towards trade protectionism than elsewhere. But policymakers should take the compensation of losers from globalisation more seriously than in the past.