This paper shows that a firm can use the purchase price and the fine imposed on detected payment evaders to discriminate between unobservable consumer types. Assuming that consumers self-select into regular buyers and payment evaders, we show that the firm typically engages in second-degree price discrimination in which the purchase price exceeds the expected fine. In addition, we find that higher fines do not necessarily reduce payment evasion. We illustrate with data from fare dodging on public transportation.
Der Bundesrat hat im Jahr 2006 eine Totalrevision der Postgesetzgebung in Auftrag gegeben. Ziel dieser Revision ist es, gleiche Rahmenbedingungen für die Schweizerische Post und private Anbieter zu schaffen, gleichzeitig die Grundversorgung und ihre Finanzierung zu sichern und allfällige weitere Öffnungsschritte im Briefmarkt festzulegen. In Schweden sind die Briefmärkte bereits seit längerem vollständig liberalisiert. Die schwedischen Erfahrungen zeigen, dass eine konsistente Neugestaltung des Postmarktes den Wettbewerb auch in der Schweiz beleben könnte, dass aber die Finanzierung der heutigen umfassenden Grundversorgung in Frage gestellt würde. Kleinkunden hätten tendenziell höhere Preise und eine tiefere Dienstleistungsqualität zu gewärtigen.
This survey summarizes the state and development of European tax policy, in particular discussing the harmonization progress in direct as well as indirect taxes. Based on an over-view over the theoretical and empirical literature on tax competition, we further ask whether increased tax coordination is necessary to prevent a race to the bottom. We show that theoretical predictions on the outcome of tax competition are ambiguous, and the empirical evidence in this regard is inconclusive as well. This, in turn, gives rise to an only limited scope of stronger tax harmonization.
Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new administrative data base that plausibly allows for selectivity correction by microeconometric matching methods. We identify the effects of different types of training programmes over a horizon of more than seven years. Using bias corrected weighted multiple neighbours matching we find that all programmes have negative effects in the short run and positive effects over a horizon of about four years. However, for substantive training programmes with duration of about two years gains in employment probabilities of more than 10% points appear to be sustainable, but come at the price of large negative lock-in effects.
In contrast to the popular policy claim that sport might serve as vehicle to meet the Millennium Development Goals, empirical evidence based on large-scale survey data is largely missing. We use panel data based on a cohort of children and employ propensity score matching to identify the effects of sports participation on child development in Peru. Our findings suggest that participation in a sports group has positive impacts on subjective health and a measure of social capital. However, and in contrast to developed countries, we find no statistically significant effects on well-being and human capital formation.
