Publications

Recent Working Papers 

• Subnational border reforms and economic development, 2019, Mimeo (with Sebastian Blesse).

• Regional favoritism and human capital accumulation in Africa, 2021, Mimeo (with Zareh Asatryan, Patrick Hufschmidt and Alexander Stöcker).

• Favoritism and firms: micro evidence and macro implications, 2021, Mimeo (with Zareh Asatryan, Carlo Birkholz and David Gomtsyan).

Peer-reviewed Publications

• Young versus old politicians and public spending priorities. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization  225, p. 88-106, 2024 (with Zohal Hessami and Sebastian Schirner). 

• The regional economics of mineral resource wealth in Africa, Economica, accepted, 2024 (with Zareh Asatryan, Carlo Birkholz and Patrick Hufschmidt).

• Women in political bodies as policymakers, Review of Economics and Statistics, accepted, 2023 (with Zohal Hessami).

• Women legislators and economic performance, Journal of Economic Growth 29, p. 151-214, 2024 (with Sonia Bhalotra, Brian Min and Yogesh Uppal). 

• Political Selection when uncertainty is high, Kyklos 76, p. 161-178, 2023 (with Zohal Hessami and Temurbek Khasanboev).

• The gender recontest gap in elections, European Economic Review 145, 104111, 2022 (with Zohal Hessami).

• Appointed public officals and local favoritism: evidence from the German States, Journal of Urban Economics 124, 103354, 2021 (with Mariana Lopes da Fonseca).

• The revenue and base effects of local tax hikes: evidence from a quasi-experiment,  International Tax and Public Finance 28, p. 1472-1518, 2021.

• Fiscal interactions in the short and the long run: evidence from German reunification, Journal of Economic Geography 20, p. 711-732, 2020.

• Gold mining and education: a long-run resource curse in Africa?, Journal of Development Studies 56, p. 1745-1762, 2020 (with Pelle Ahlerup and Arne Bigsten).

• Distributive spending and presidential partisan politics, Public Choice 185, p. 65-85, 2020 (with Yaniv Reingewertz).

• Does the election of a female leader clear the way for more women in politics?, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 10, p. 95-121, 2018 (with Zohal Hessami).

• Monetary integration, soft budget constraints, and the EMU sovereign debt crises, Economics & Politics 29, 252-275, 2017 (with Zohal Hessami).

• Local fiscal policy after a bailout: austerity or soft budget constraints?, Economics of Governance 18, p. 209-238, 2017.

• The effect of direct democracy on the level and structure of local taxes, Regional Science and Urban Economics 65,  p. 38-55, 2017 (with Zareh Asatryan and Friedrich Heinemann).

• Direct democracy and local public finances under cooperative federalism, Scandinavian Journal of Economics 119, p. 801-820, 2017 (with Zareh Asatryan, Theocharis Grigoriadis, and Friedrich Heinemann).

• Political alignment and intergovernmental transfers in parliamentary systems: evidence from Germany, Public Choice 171, p. 75-98, 2017 (with Zohal Hessami).

• Depressing dependence: transfers and economic growth in the German States, Regional Studies 51, p. 1815-1825, 2017 (with Lars P. Feld and Sarah Necker).

• Regional development and national identification in sub-Saharan Africa, Journal of Comparative Economics 45, p. 622-643, 2017 (with Pelle Ahlerup and Arne Bigsten).

• Electoral competition and endogenous political institutions: quasi-experimental evidence from Germany, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 122, p. 43-61, 2016 (with Mariana Lopes da Fonseca).

• Electoral thresholds and political representation, Public Choice 169, p. 117-136, 2016 (with Mariana Lopes da Fonseca).

• Do municipal mergers reduce costs? Evidence from a German federal state, Regional Science and Urban Economics 59, p. 54-74, 2016 (with Sebastian Blesse).

• Government impartiality and sustained growth in sub-Saharan Africa, World Development 83, p. 54-69, 2016 (with Pelle Ahlerup and Arne Bigsten).

• Fiscal federalism, decentralization and economic growth: A meta-analysis, Economic Inquiry 54, p. 1445- 1463, 2016 (with Lars P. Feld and Jan Schnellenbach).

• Revenue decentralization, central oversight and the political budget cycle: evidence from Israel, European Journal of Political Economy 42, p. 1-16, 2016 (with Sebastian Blesse, Adi Brender, and Yaniv Reingewertz).

• Intergovernmental transfers, local fiscal policy, and the flypaper effect: evidence from a German State, FinanzArchiv / Public Finance Analysis 72, p. 1-40, 2016.    

• Tax innovations and public revenues in sub-Saharan Africa, Journal of Development Studies 51, p. 689-706, 2015 (with Pelle Ahlerup and Arne Bigsten).

• Election cycles and electricity provision: evidence from a quasi-experiment with Indian special elections, Journal of Public Economics 126, p. 64-73, 2015 (with Yogesh Uppal and Brian Min).

• Has globalization affected collective bargaining? An empirical test, 1980-2009, World Economy  38, p. 1880-1911, 2015 (with Zohal Hessami).

• Taxation and democratization, World Development 56, p. 287-301, 2014.

• Identifying local tax mimicking with administrative borders and a policy reform, Journal of Public Economics 118, p. 41-51, 2014.

• Coalition governments, cabinet size, and the common pool problem: evidence from the German States, European Journal of Political Economy 32, p. 356-376, 2013.

• The economics and empirics of tax competition: a survey and lessons for the EU, Erasmus Law Review, 7:1, 2013 (with Mariana Lopes da Fonseca).

• Do bailouts buy votes? Evidence from a panel of Hessian municipalities, Economics of Governance 45, p. 257-278, 2013.

• Fiscal capacity and government accountability in sub-Saharan Africa, World Development 45, p. 92-107, 2013 (with Arne Bigsten).

• Fiscal decentralization and economic growth in OECD countries: Is there a relationship?, Public Finance Review 41, p. 421-445, 2013 (with Lars P. Feld).

• Soft budget constraints and strategic interactions in subnational borrowing: evidence from the German States, 1975-2005, Journal of Urban Economics 71, p. 114-127, 2012.

• Tax decentralization and public deficits in OECD countries, Publius: The Journal of Federalism 42, p. 688-707, 2012.

• Public education spending in a globalized world: is there a shift in priorities across educational stages?, International Tax and Public Finance 19, p. 677-707, 2012 (with Zohal Hessami).

• Revenue decentralization and inflation: a re-evaluation, Economics Letters 116, p. 298-300, 2012.

• Creative destruction and fiscal institutions: A long-run case study of three regions, Journal of Evolutionary Economics 22, p. 563-583, 2012 (with Lars P. Feld and Jan Schnellenbach).

• Fiscal decentralization, ideology, and the size of the public sector, European Journal of Political Economy 27, 485-506, 2011.

• The Heckscher-Ohlin Model and the network structure of international trade, International Review of Economics and Finance 20, p. 135–145, 2011 (with Florian Blöchl, Tilman Brück, and Fabian Theis).

• Federalism, budget deficits and public debt: On the reform of Germany's fiscal constitution, Review of Law and Economics 4(3), 2010 (with Lars P. Feld).

• On the link between fiscal decentralization and public debt in OECD countries, Public Choice 145, p. 351-378, 2010.

• Supranational integration and national reorganization: On the Maastricht treaty's impact on fiscal decentralization in EU countries, Constitutional Political Economy 21, 309-335, 2010.

• Did the Maastricht treaty matter for macroeconomic performance?, Kyklos 62, p. 331-358, 2009.

Book chapters

• Quality of government and economic growth, in: OUP Handbook of Quality of Government, Eds. Marcia Grimes, Bo Rothstein, Monika Bauhr and Andreas Bågenholm , 2021 (with Pelle Ahlerup and Arne Bigsten)

• Political decentralization and the effectiveness of aid, in: Arne Bigsten (ed.), Globalization and development: rethinking interventions and governance, New York: Routledge, 2013 (with Arne Bigsten and Zohal Hessami).

• La II Comisión del Federalismo: reformas recientes de las relaciones financieras entre la federación y los Länder en Alemania,in: J. L. Laborda, M. Kölling and F. Knüpling (eds.), La reforma del sistema de financiación de las Communidades Autónomas -- perspectivas internacionales, Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, Madrid 2010 (with Lars P. Feld).

• Zur Reform der deutschen Finanzverfassung,in: G.G. Schulze (eds.), Reformen für Deutschland - die wichtigsten Handlungsfelder aus ökonomischer Sicht, Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart 2009 (with Lars P. Feld).The Swiss system of fiscal federalism: lessons for the German reform discussion,in: Ralf Thomas Baus, Raoul Blindenbacher und Ulrich Karpen (eds.), Competition vs. cooperation: German fiscal federalism in need of reform - a comparative perspective, Nomos, Baden-Baden 2007, S. 298-320 (with Lars P. Feld).

• Das Schweizer Modell des fiskalischen Föderalismus: Lehren für die deutsche Reformdiskussion,in: Kai. A. Konrad und Beate Jochimsen (eds.), Der Föderalstaat nach dem Berlin-Urteil, Peter Lang, Frankfurt et al. 2007, S. 105-133 (with Lars P. Feld).