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Other refereed essays
We analyse the impact of the temporary tax reduction on diesel and gasoline prices from June to the end of August 2022 in Germany. By implementing a synthetic difference-in-differences approach with different baskets of European countries, we find a significant reduction in prices by 33.8–34.4 cents per litre for gasoline and 12.2–14.6 cents per litre for diesel. These results are robust to variations ...
In:
Review of Economics
74 (2023), 2, S. 141-160
| Lea Bernhardt, Xenia Breiderhoff, Ralf Dewenter
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Diskussionspapiere 2041 / 2023
This paper provides a comprehensive evaluation of the world’s largest environmental tax reform. We compare carbon and air pollutant emissions of the German transport sector and synthetic counterfactuals following the 1999 eco-tax reform, and find average re- ductions in external damages of around 80 billion Euros. We further show that the eco-tax induced low-carbon innovation and document much stronger ...
2023| Pier Basaglia, Sophie Behr, Moritz A. Drupp
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Research Project
In this study, we analyze a reform to better balance income taxation, social contributions and means-tested social benefits. In order to relieve low-wage earners and middle classes, the employee contributions to social security are to be integrated into the personal income tax and the top income tax rates are to be increased. In addition, families with low and middle income are to be relieved and...
Completed Project| Public Economics
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Diskussionspapiere 1933 / 2021
As the institutional literature convincingly shows, socioeconomic phenomena are to a large extent shaped by the formal institutions, that is, legal acts (laws and ordinances). However, the latter are formulated in a specific language that is difficult to understand, let alone to measure. However, since the early 1990s, a whole branch of economic analysis of governmental regulations has evolved. It is ...
2021| Konstantin A. Kholodilin, Linus Pfeiffer
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Refereed essays Web of Science
Theory suggests that large firms are more likely to engage in lobbying behaviour and are geographically more mobile compared with smaller entities. Conditional on jurisdiction size, policy choices are thus predicted to depend on the shape of a jurisdiction's firm size distribution, with more business-oriented policies being enacted if jurisdictions host large firms. The paper empirically tests this ...
In:
Canadian Journal of Economics
54 (2021), 2, S. 812-839
| Nadine Riedel, Martin Simmler
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Diskussionspapiere 1986 / 2021
The system of capital taxation consists of two instruments, namely a tax on profits and a depreciation allowance on investment. We will show in this paper that by acting on both instruments simultaneously it is possible to achieve both a growth and a fiscal net revenue target even in cases when a trade off prevails when each instrument is used individually. This is an application of the Tinbergen rule ...
2021| Marius Clemens, Werner Röger
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SOEPpapers 1133 / 2021
Starting in 2009, the German state of Saxony distributed sports club membership vouchers among all 33,000 third graders in the state. The policy’s objective was to encourage them to develop a long-term habit of exercising. In 2018, we carried out a large register-based survey among several cohorts in Saxony and two neighboring states. Our difference-in-differences estimations show that, even after ...
2021| Jan Marcus, Thomas Siedler, Nicolas R. Ziebarth
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Diskussionspapiere 1944 / 2021
This paper evaluates the temporary VAT reduction introduced by the German government over the third and fourth quarter of 2020 as most controversial part of the COVID-19 stimulus package. Critics argue that VAT reductions are ineffective because of limited pass-through of temporary measures to consumer prices and in presence of lockdown measures. Advocates emphasize positive effects on durables and ...
2021| Marius Clemens, Werner Röger
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Cluster-Seminar Öffentliche Finanzen und Lebenslagen
For the design of pension reform it is crucial to disentangle the employment effects related to the substitution and the income effect. In this paper we provide causal evidence about the importance of the income effect which in general has been assumed to be small or non-existent. We exploit a pension reform in Germany that raised pension benefits related to children. For...
03.02.2021| Sebastian Becker
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DIW Weekly Report 49-52 / 2021
Wealth is very unequally distributed in Germany. To effect a long-term reduction, the new Federal Government could focus on more effectively promoting home ownership, supplementary retirement provision, and other precautionary savings. However, a universal capital endowment could decrease wealth inequality much more rapidly and successfully. In this report, a universal capital endowment of up to 20,000 ...
2021| Stefan Bach