Suchergebnisse

We investigate the political determinants of risk premiums which sub-national governments in Switzerland have to pay for their sovereign bond emissions. For this purpose we analyse financial market data from 288 tradable cantonal bonds in the period from 1981 to 2007. Our main focus is on two different institutional factors. First, many of the Swiss cantons have adopted strong fiscal rules. We find evidence that both the presence and the strength of these fiscal rules contribute significantly to lower cantonal bond spreads. Second, we study the impact of a credible no-bailout regime on the risk premia of potential guarantors. We make use of the Leukerbad court decision in July 2003 which relieved the cantons from backing municipalities in financial distress, thus leading to a fully credible no-bailout regime. Our results show that this break lead to a reduction of cantonal risk premia by about 25 basis points. Moreover, it cut the link between cantonal risk premia and the financial situation of the municipalities in its canton which existed before. This demonstrates that a not fully credible no-bailout commitment can entail high costs for the potential guarantor.

We investigate the political determinants of risk premiums which subnational governments in Switzerland have to pay for their sovereign bond emissions. For this purpose we analyse financial market data from 288 tradable cantonal bonds in the period from 1981 to 2007. Our main focus is on two different institutional factors. First, many of the Swiss cantons have adopted strong fiscal rules. We find evidence that both the presence and the strength of these fiscal rules contribute significantly to lower cantonal bond spreads. Second, we study the impact of a credible no-bailout regime on the risk premia of potential guarantors. We make use of the Leukerbad court decision in July 2003 which relieved the cantons from backing municipalities in financial distress, thus leading to a fully credible no-bailout regime. Our results show that this break lead to a reduction of cantonal risk premia by about 25 basis points. Moreover, it cut the link between cantonal risk premia and the financial situation of the municipalities in its canton which existed before. This demonstrates that a not fully credible no-bailout commitment can entail high costs for the potential guarantor.

""Social and/or political involvement within the population is often argued to enhance public sector performance. The underlying idea is that engagement fosters political awareness and interest and increases the public's monitoring ability. Still, weak fiscal autonomy can undermine voters' interest in and demand for an efficient production of public services. In our contribution, we test whether and how voter involvement in the political sphere is related to government performance - in terms of its efficiency - using a broad panel of German municipalities. Our results suggest that voter involvement indeed has a positive impact on cost efficiency. Crucially, however, this efficiency-enhancing effect of voter involvement is significantly positively affected by local governments' fiscal autonomy." (author's abstract)

Das aktuelle budgetpolitische Umfeld bietet eine starke Motivation, Maßnahmen zur Steuervereinfachung in Angriff zu nehmen: Durch gezielte Maßnahmen zur Steuervereinfachung kann in vielen Fällen das Ziel einer wohlfahrts- und wachstumsfördernden Entlastung von Steuerzahlern verfolgt werden ohne dass dadurch notwendigerweise der Finanzierungsspielraum der öffentlichen Haushalte verringert wird. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat diese Studie eine doppelte Zielsetzung: erstens sollen aussichtsreiche und kurzfristig umsetzbare Maßnahmen der Steuervereinfachung identifiziert werden und zweitens sollen das Kosteneinsparungspotential und die Wirkungen eines solchen Maßnahmenpakets auf das gesamtwirtschaftliche Wachstum abgeschätzt werden. Der Analyse liegt dabei ein weiter Begriff der Kosten der Besteuerung zugrunde. Beru¨cksichtigt werden Kosten fu¨r private Haushalte, Unternehmen und die öffentliche Verwaltung. Unter den Kostenkategorien werden einbezogen: Planungs- oder Steuervermeidungskosten, da Steuerpflichtige ihr Verhalten mit dem Ziel, die Steuerbelastung zu minimieren, optimieren; Steuerbefolgungskosten, die den Steuerpflichtigen bei der Entrichtung der Steuerpflicht entstehen (beispielsweise durch die Sammlung und Aufbewahrung von Belegen oder die Berechnung der Bemessungsgrundlage) und Verwaltungskosten, die bei der Finanzverwaltung im Rahmen der Erhebung der Steuern und der Kontrolle der Steuerpflichtigen anfallen.