Europeans are living longer, and fewer now remain in the labour force as they grow older. Many European countries have responded to the ensuing financial pressure by reforming their public pension systems and health care programmes. There is considerable uncertainty as to the effects of these reforms - as they typically do not alter the unfunded nature of public welfare arrangements and this uncertainty is itself costly. Not only does it undermine the credibility of public welfare programmes, but it may also distort labour supply behaviour, decisions regarding savings and capital accumulation. More generally there is uncertainty about the overall impact of ageing on welfare and society and the multiple domains in which its effects may develop. Pensions: More Information, Less Ideology builds on the existing evidence - mostly in the field of public pensions - and highlights the advantages that would be obtained by: harmonising methodologies used in the various countries to report pension outlays and forecast future pension liabilities or more generally public spending; defining common standards as to the frequency of expenditure forecasts and the length of the forecast horizons for welfare expenditures; developing European longitudinal survey of persons pre- and post retirement age, providing timely information on a wide array of decisions by individuals and household related to the ageing process and the ongoing trends.

The 22 papers in this volume illustrate the itinerary of Henry Tulkens on the occasion of his retirement from teaching. The volume presents contemporary analysis of Tulkens classic papers on public sector economics. The collection is structured in four parts: I. Decentralized resource allocation processes for public and private goods - II. Environment, public goods and externalities - III. Efficiency analysis - IV. Fiscal competition and optimality.

Aims to give to the reader the tools necessary to apply semi-Markov processes in real-life problems.

The book is self-contained and, starting from a low level of probability concepts, gradually brings the reader to a deep knowledge of semi-Markov processes.

Presents homogeneous and non-homogeneous semi-Markov processes, as well as Markov and semi-Markov rewards processes.

The concepts are fundamental for many applications, but they are not as thoroughly presented in other books on the subject as they are here.

This book presents 15 original papers and commentaries by a distinguished group of tax policy and tax administration experts. Using international examples, they highlight the state of knowledge of tax reform, present new thinking about the issue, and analyze useful policy options. The book 's general goal is to examine the current and emerging challenges facing tax reformers and to assess possible directions future reforms are likely to take. More specific themes include distributional issues, how to tax capital income, how to design specific taxes (e.g., the income tax, the value-added tax, the property tax), how to consider the politics and administrative aspects of tax reform, and how to combine the separate insights into comprehensive tax reform.

This book covers a wide range of topics in education finance. It is designed to introduce the literature on education finance to scholars and prospective scholars and can be used as a textbook for a graduate-level education finance class. The topics in the book include the incidence of the property tax as a source of revenue for elementary and secondary education, how much more it costs to reach a state's education targets in a high-poverty school district than in a rich district, the design of state education aid programs, the impact of school quality on house values, the cost implications of school district consolidations, and the impact of state aid on school infrastructure.

"Civil society organisations play an increasingly important role in analysing government budget policies and in advocating for more transparent and inclusive budget processes in transitional and developing countries. Drawing on case studies of six budget groups across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, this book is the first comprehensive study of the impact and significance of civic initiatives aimed at enhancing budget transparency and the poverty focus of government expenditure priorities. Achievements include improvements in the transparency of budgetary decisions, increased budget awareness and literacy, and deeper engagement in the budget process on the part of legislators, the media and civil society organisations. The case studies in this book show how budget groups produce greater equity in budget policies and strengthen democracy by fostering accountability, enhancing transparency and deepening participation and voice."--BOOK JACKET.

Die Kosten im deutschen Gesundheitssystem steigen, zugleich werden Qualitatsprobleme immer offensichtlicher trotz aller Reformbemuhungen. Die Autoren gehen davon aus, dass nicht Kostenkontrolle, sondern die Steigerung des Patientennutzens das Ziel ist, das alle Akteure vereinen kann. In zwolf Empfehlungen erklaren sie, wie sich Leistungserbringer im Wettbewerb um Qualitat organisieren sollten, wie Krankenkassen eine aktivere Rolle spielen und das Vergutungssystem kunftig Exzellenz in der Versorgung einzelner Krankheitsbilder belohnen konnte."

Capital income taxation is a complicated issue because of the g- eral equilibrium implications these taxes have with regard to the int- sectoral and intertemporal allocation of economic resources. Together with Michael Stimmelmayr (CES, Munich) and Christian Keuschnigg (IFF, St. Gallen), Doina Radulescu from the Ifo Institute for E- nomic Research has designed a complex and particularly elegant - tertemporal general equilibrium model of the economy, called IfoMod. IfoMod makes it possible to calculate the welfare gains and losses from fundamental tax reforms in present value terms. One of the tax reforms Doina Radulescu analyses is the move - wards a dual income tax, as is used in some Scandinavian countries. She analyses this tax using German data, because it was recently p- posed, among others, by the German Council of Economic Advisors. In the meantime, IfoMod has become a standard tool for the Ifo Institute. According to the Council of Economic Advisors, it is not only sta- of-the-art, but one of the world's most developed and advanced CGE models for the purpose of analysing intertemporal allocation problems in growing economies. Hans-Werner Sinn Preface This book was written during my time acting as a PhD candidate in the Public Finance Department at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich.

This is the story of how a small island on the edge of Europe became one of the world's major tax havens. From global corporations such as Apple and Google, to investment bankers and mainstream politicians, those taking advantage of Ireland's pro-business tax laws and shadow banking system have amassed untold riches at enormous social cost to ordinary people at home and abroad. Tax Haven Ireland uncovers the central players in this process and exposes the coverups employed by the Irish state, with the help of accountants, lawyers and financial services companies. From the lucrative internet porn industry to corruption in the property market, this issue distorts the economy across the state and in the wider international system, and its history runs deep, going back the country's origins as a British colonial outpost. Today, in the wake of Brexit and in the shadow of yet another economic crash, what can be done to prevent such dangerous behaviour and reorganise our economies to invest in the people? Can Ireland - and all of us - build an alternative economy based on fairness and democratic values?

Thoroughly updated and expanded with a new chapter on blockchain and increased coverage of cryptocurrency, as well as new data, this established advanced undergraduate textbook approaches the subject via first principles. It builds on a simple, clear monetary model and applies this framework consistently to a variety of monetary questions. Starting with trade being mutually beneficial, the authors demonstrate that money makes people better off, and that government money competes against other means of payments, including other types of government payments. After developing each of these topics, the book tackles the issue of money competing against other stores of value, examining issues associated with trade, finance, and modern banking. From simple economies to modern economies, the authors address the role banks play in making more trade possible, concluding with the information problems plaguing modern banking.

Christian Funke aims at developing a better understanding of a central asset pricing issue: the stock price discovery process in capital markets. Using U.S. capital market data, he investigates the importance of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for stock prices and examines economic links between customer and supplier firms. The empirical investigations document return predictability and show that capital markets are not perfectly efficient.

Kay Muller provides insight into the monitoring activities of private equity fund investors and explores their information requirements. He analyzes the reporting of private equity fund managers, reveals information gaps and provides guidance on how to improve investor relations.

Tommy Bengtsson Population ageing, the shift in age distribution towards older ages, is of immense global concern. It is taking place to a varying degree all over the world, more in Europe and some Asian countries, less on the African continent. The worldwide share of people aged 65 years and above is predicted to increase from 7. 5% in 2005 to 16. 1% in 2050 (UN 2007, p. 11). The corresponding ?gures for developed countries are 15. 5 and 26. 2% and for developing countries 5. 5 and 14. 6%. While population ageing has been going on for some time in the developed world, and will continue to do so, most of the change is yet to come for the developing world. The change in developing countries, however, is going to be much faster than it has been in the developed world. For example, while it took more than 100 years in France and more than 80 years in Sweden for the population group aged 65 and above to increase from 7 to 14% of the population, the same change in Japan took place over a 25-year period (UN 2007, p. 13). The scenario for the future is very similar for most developing countries, including highly populated countries like China, India and Brazil. While the start and the speed differ, the shift in age structure towards older ages is a worldwide phenomenon, stressing the signi?cance of the concept global ageing.

This title, first published in 1970, provides a comprehensive account of the public finance system in Britain. As well as providing a concise outline of the monetary system as a basis for the realistic understanding of public finance, the author also describes the pattern of government expenditure and revenue in the twentieth-century and goes on to give a detailed account of the taxation system up until April 1969. This title will be of interest to students of monetary economics.

The United States is moving toward a possible catastrophic fiscal collapse. The country may not get there, but the risk is unmistakable and growing. The 'fiscal language' of taxes, spending, and deficits has played a huge and under appreciated role in the decisions that have pushed the nation in this dangerous direction. Part of the problem is that by focusing only on the current year, deficits permit politicians to ignore what is looming down the road. The bigger problem lies in the belief, shared by people on the left and the right alike, that 'tax cuts' and 'spending cuts' lead to smaller government, when in fact the characterization of any new policy as a change in 'taxes' or in 'spending' is purely a matter of labeling. This book proposes a better fiscal language for US budgetary policy, rooted in economic fundamentals such as wealth distribution and resource allocation in lieu of 'taxes' and 'spending'.

Mitarbeiterdelikte haben sich zu einem erheblichen Risikofaktor fur die Wirtschaft entwickelt. Jahrlich entstehen durch Korruption und Betrug Schaden in Milliardenhoehe. Hauptursache sind mangelnde Kontrollen und zu viele ungesicherte Zugriffsmoeglichkeiten. Dieser bewahrte Leitfaden vermittelt anschaulich Methoden und Verfahren der betrieblichen Kriminalitatsbekampfung. Der erfahrene Unternehmensberater Roger Odenthal verdeutlicht die Hintergrunde krimineller Handlungen und die Motivation der Tater. Er erklart juristische Konsequenzen und erlautert, wie man Indizien erkennt und verdachtige Mitarbeiter befragt. Die Lekture sensibilisiert den Leser fur kritische Unternehmensbereiche und verdachtige Vorgange. Ein verstandliches und leicht lesbares Buch, das hilft, Wirtschaftskriminalitat vorzubeugen, zu erkennen und aufzudecken. Mit vielen Beispielen, Checklisten und Tipps. Neu in der 2., komplett uberarbeiteten und erweiterten Auflage sind Kapitel uber Korruption und das Auftreten des Prufers vor Gericht. Ausserdem enthalt das Buch zusatzliche Fallstudien, ausfuhrlichere Checklisten und noch mehr Hinweise zu computergestutzten Prufmethoden.

The New Public Management paradigm seems to have produced a convergence of administrative reform. However, specific implementations of NPM show range of forms and results including performance indicators, personal reforms and evaluations of reforms. This text demonstrates how NPM is crafted differently in various institutional contexts.

Technological change is central in explaining industrial leadership, but the relationships and interactions between scientific research, industrial innovation, and competitiveness are neither clear nor straightforward. Public research funding and business strategy dictate to a significant extent the manner in, and extent to which innovation occurs within the economy. This book analyses the role of technological change in the competitiveness of firms and national economies. This includes an examination of: * the roles of R&D spending, and the organisational and technological capabilities of firms in the encouragement of innovation; * the way institutions in various nations differ in the way in which they encourage - or discourage - innovation; and the way in which different industrial sectors provide - or fail to provide - incentives to innovate; and * the ways in which trade, the operation of multinationals and international trade negotiations influence national production and innovation systems . The book combines insights of innovation scholars with those from business history, sociology and economics, in exploring the relation between organizational structures and the process of innovation. It places the analysis of innovation within an international perspective and gives historical and current examples of the interaction between organisational and technological capabilities, industrial and innovation policies and economic performance. Examples are drawn from a range of sectors (services, pharmaceuticals, construction, chemicals) and a range of countries (including the UK and other European countries, the USA, East Asia and Latin America).

A unique, clearly written, and logically organized volume, Public Finance Administration, Second Edition provides a comprehensive focus on the management of public funds. Ideal for the nonexpert with a public administration background, this easy-to-read new edition is updated in content and examples. Authors B. J. Reed and John W. Swain begin with a broad introduction to public finance administration, including its relationship to public budgeting, the practice of public sector accounting, and the economic concepts of money and value. Next, they cover revenues and expenditures, including how they are administered and the importance of forecasting and cost analysis. Later chapters deal with such technical areas as managing cash flow, investment, debts, risk, purchasing, capital budgets, and the financial components of human resource management. The volume includes a look at the evaluative side of public finance such as auditing, assessing financial conditions, and the emerging use of development finance. In addition, the authors point to relevant web sites on the Internet for more information on public finance administration. Filling a need for courses in public finance administration, this volume provides a public administration based approach to the subject with a highly practical orientation.

Our economies face constant challenges from many different directions. Structural reforms are implemented every day, either to grasp the benefits of globalization and technological change, or to avoid foundering on unaffordable welfare systems or the rise of new economies. Despite this flurry of reforms, many of their effects are insufficiently understood. What makes reforms a success or a failure? Why do we witness systematically ambivalent attitudes to reforms? Can governments implement reforms differently, without inflicting prejudice to large fringes of the population? This book explores these issues by comparing a number of reforms, across a large set of countries and sectors. First, through an innovative multisectorial input-output analysis, the authors compare the effects of liberalisation reforms in the telecommunication and electricity sectors across Europe. Surprisingly, they find that very similar and well-intended reforms can generate highly contrasted outcomes. It is also shown that governments must consider the effects of each reform on all sectors of the economy. Second, the authors explore how governments can tailor their reform strategy to alter the redistributive effects of reforms. They show that the government's approach to reforms has been very different across time and across countries. A government's approach depends on local institutions, on the nature of the opposition, and on the scope of the reform under way. The authors, however, show that governments do have alternatives. Often, there are ways to tailor reforms so as to protect specific parts of the population; and there are ways to experiment gradually, to avoid costly policy mistakes.

Karoline Jung-Senssfelder presents the first augmented contracting analysis, focusing on the interaction of both, financial instruments and covenants, in the creation of incentives to the contracting parties. With a focus on the German market, she integrates the findings of her model-based theoretical and survey-based empirical analyses to derive value-adding implications for an incentive-compatible contract design in the German venture capital market.

Die Inpflichtnahme Privater steckt trotz ihrer immer groesser werdenden praktischen Bedeutung als Folge des sich wandelnden Staates noch in den Kinderschuhen. Die auftretende Vielzahl von Rechtsfragen, so unter anderem nach einer moeglichen Kostenerstattung fur erbrachte Dienste, legt eine umfassende Klarung nahe. Mit der im Zuge des 11. September eingefuhrten Pflicht der Finanzdienstleistungsinstitute, die bei ihnen gefuhrten Konten standig im Rahmen eines Kontenresearches mit Blick auf Geldwascheverdachtsfalle und Terrorismusfinanzierung zu rastern, ist uberdies ein aktueller und besonders eingriffsintensiver Fall der Inpflichtnahme aufgetreten. Anhand des 25 a Abs. 1 Nr. 6 KWG werden die fur alle Inpflichtnahmen relevanten rechtlichen Grenzen aufgezeigt. Eine Inpflichtnahme Privater ohne Kostenerstattung ist in aller Regel verfassungsrechtlich unzulassig.

After a massive international campaign calling attention to the development impact of foreign debt, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is now underway. But will the HIPC Initiative meet its high expectations? Will debt relief substantially raise growth? How do we make sure that debt relief benefits poor people? And how can we ensure that poor countries do not become highly indebted again? These are some of the key policy issues covered in this rigorous and independent analysis of debt, development, and poverty. JEAN-CLAUDE BERTHLEMY Professor of Economics, University of Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, France ARNE BIGSTEN Professor of Development Economics, G/teborg University, Sweden NANCY BIRDSALL Founding President, Center for Global Development, Washington, USA ABDUR R. CHOWDHURY Director, Economic Analysis Division, United Nations Commission for Europe, Geneva, Switzerland STIJN CLAESSENS Professor of International Finance, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands ERA DABLA-NORRIS International Monetary Fund, USA ISHAC DIWAN Company Director for Ethiopia and Sudan, World Bank, USA BENNO FERRARINI Director of Economic Research at the World Trade Institute, Switzerl

How did Britain transform itself from a nation of workhouses to one that became a model for the modern welfare state? The Winding Road to the Welfare State investigates the evolution of living standards and welfare policies in Britain from the 1830s to 1950 and provides insights into how British working-class households coped with economic insecurity. George Boyer examines the retrenchment in Victorian poor relief, the Liberal Welfare Reforms, and the beginnings of the postwar welfare state, and he describes how workers altered spending and saving methods based on changing government policies. From the cutting back of the Poor Law after 1834 to Parliament's abrupt about-face in 1906 with the adoption of the Liberal Welfare Reforms, Boyer offers new explanations for oscillations in Britain's social policies and how these shaped worker well-being. The Poor Law's increasing stinginess led skilled manual workers to adopt self-help strategies, but this was not a feasible option for low-skilled workers, many of whom continued to rely on the Poor Law into old age. In contrast, the Liberal Welfare Reforms were a major watershed, marking the end of seven decades of declining support for the needy. Concluding with the Beveridge Report and Labour's social policies in the late 1940s, Boyer shows how the Liberal Welfare Reforms laid the foundations for a national social safety net. A sweeping look at economic pressures after the Industrial Revolution, The Winding Road to the Welfare State illustrates how British welfare policy waxed and waned over the course of a century.

We invest more in health care than ever before, yet we are more anxious about doctors, hospitals, and the NHS in general. As perceptions of patients' rights have expanded, so has the transparency of the difficult choices that are routine. Government has become more critical of the NHS and the public less willing to wait for treatment. Why does demand for health care consistently exceed supply and how should Government manage the problem? There is a danger that improved rights for the strong and articulate will ignore less visible, or unpopular interests. How should the rights of elderly patients, or children, or those with terminal illnesses be balanced? Who should decide: the government, doctors, NHS managers, citizens, or the courts? How should decision-makers be held accountable, and by whom? How should governance regulate the NHS? As patients become 'consumers' of medical care, what choice do they have as to how, where, and when they will be treated; and should this include hospitals abroad? This completely revised new edition puts patients' rights into their political, economic and managerial contexts. It considers the implications of the Bristol Inquiry and the rhetoric of patients as 'consumers' of care. In balancing the rights of individuals with those of the community as a whole, it deals with one of the most pressing problems in contemporary society.