The Principles of Parallel Development of Fiscal Capacity between State and Municipalities as Useful Benchmarks for the Determination of the Inter-governmental Grants in Germany

The conventional theoretical and empirical references related to the inter-governmental fiscal transfer system in Germany appear to heavily concentrate on the issues surrounding the measurement of local expenditure needs of a municipality and their coverage through the down-flow grants when the municipal tax revenue is insufficient to match the needs. This study introduces additional important research fields in this context. Firstly, it attempts to analyse the role of the development of tax revenue and fiscal power of the grant provider (the State) as well as the joint financial relationship between the State and (different types of rural and urban) municipalities in the determination of inter-governmental grants. Secondly, when the total volume of the State grants is determined, this study examines in the next step under the particular consideration of different tax capacities in varied categories of municipalities, how this amount should be horizontally distributed among these groups to achieve the equal growth of hypothetical per capita fiscal capacity.     

URBAN GROWTH EXTERNALITIES AND NEIGHBORHOOD INCENTIVES: ANOTHER CAUSE OF URBAN SPRAWL?*

ABSTRACT This paper suggests a cause of low density urban development or urban sprawl that has not been given much attention in the literature. There have been a number of arguments put forward for market failures that may account for urban sprawl, including incomplete pricing of infrastructure, environmental externalities, and unpriced congestion. The problem analyzed here is that urban growth creates benefits for an entire urban area, but the costs of growth are borne by individual neighborhoods. An externality problem arises because existing residents perceive the costs associated with the new residents locating in their neighborhoods, but not the full benefits of new entrants which accrue to the city as a whole. The result is that existing residents have an incentive to block new residents to their neighborhoods, resulting in cities that are less dense than is optimal, or too spread out. The paper models several different types of urban growth, and examines the optimal and local choice outcomes under each type. In the first model, population growth is endogenous and the physical limits of the city are fixed. The second model examines the case in which population growth in the region is given, but the city boundary is allowed to vary. We show that in both cases the city will tend to be larger and less dense than is optimal. In each, we examine the sensitivity of the model to the number of neighborhoods and to the size of infrastructure and transportation costs. Finally, we examine optimal subsidies and see how they compare to current policies such as impact fees on new development.     

Braucht die Theoretische Physik den Religiösen Glauben ? Neo-Scholastik und Positivismus in der Dritten Republik

As common wisdom has it, Pierre Duhem was one of the most important proponents of French philosophy of science around 1900. Usually, his conception of physical theories is regarded as the incarnation of the ancient — proto-positivistic - programme of “saving the phenomena”. This view is correct, but it needs to be supplemented by taking account of the discursive context of Duhem’s position. In this paper it is argued that Duhem’s philosophical colleague Abel Rey played a central role in this connection.     

REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION'S EXPORT EARNINGS OUTSIDE THE FORMER SOVIET UNION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC AUTONOMY

The distribution of foreign export earnings by area of origin is analyzed for the Russian Federation, to convertible and non-convertible currency areas, as well as for four major commodity categories. The paper focuses on identifying, because of Russia's narrow export composition, oblast-level units (and commodities) that contribute disproportionately to the Federation's overall convertible currency earnings. It then explores the implications of the extremely uneven spatial districution of such earnings for the Russian government's efforts to devise a workable formula for distributing export revenues between the “Center” and the localities.     

Uniform Pricing Versus Mill Pricing

This paper analyzes the coexistence of different pricing strategies. The purpose is to discuss how firms that are limited to uniform pricing affect the outcome of price competition among mill–price–setting firms. Price competition among (three) firms that are restricted to mill pricing is analyzed within the classic Hotelling framework and uniform–price–setting firms are considered as first movers. If uniform–price–setting firms deliver any good, they effectively separate mill–price–setting firms from each other. Finally, it is shown that price competition among first movers strengthens the effects of cross–type price competition.     

Infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating of middle pleistocene fluvial archives of the Heidelberg Basin (Southwest Germany)

The infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating technique was applied to eight fluvial samples that were collected from two sediment cores at the Heidelberg Basin located near Viernheim and Ludwigshafen in southwest Germany. Based on the IR-RF derived ages of the samples it was possible to establish a chronological framework for the Mid-Pleistocene fluvial deposits of the Heidelberg Basin. The results allow us to distinguish between four main periods of aggradation. The lowermost sample taken from 100 m core depth lead to an IR-RF age of 643 ± 28 ka pointing to a Cromerian period of aggradation (OIS 17–16). For the Elsterian it is now possible to distinguish between two aggradation periods, one occurring during the Lower Elsterian period (OIS 15) and a second during the Upper Elsterian period (OIS 12–11). For the so called Upper interlayer (or “Oberer Zwischenhorizont” — a layer of organic-rich and finer-grained deposits), the IR-RF results point to a deposition age of around 300 ka, with samples taken directly on top and out of this layer yielding IR-RF ages of 288 ± 19 ka and 302 ± 19 ka, respectively. Hence, the measured IR-RF ages clearly point to a deposition during the Lower Saalian period (OIS 9–8) whereas earlier studies assumed a Cromerian age for the sediments of the Upper Interlayer based on pollen records and also mollusc fauna. The new IR-RF dataset indicates that significant hiatuses are present within the fluvial sediment successions. In particular the Eemian and Upper Saalian deposits are missing in this part of the northern Upper Rhine Graben, as the 300 ka deposits are directly overlain by Weichselian fluvial sediments. It is obvious that time periods of increased fluvial aggradation were interrupted by time periods of almost no aggradation or erosion which should have been mainly triggered by phases of increased and decreased subsidence of the Heidelberg Basin.     

The crisis before the crisis: the ‘problems of modern society’ and the OECD, 1968–74

‘Economic crisis’ is conventionally understood as the absence of economic growth. However, far from being straightforward and self-explanatory, this understanding is itself an expression of a very particular ensemble of statistical techniques, economic theory, state practices and broader societal beliefs; it is not adequate for the historical analysis of what people have historically perceived as economic crises. This article aims at illustrating this divergence by analysing debates within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the so-called ‘problems of modern society’ from 1968 to 1974. These problems, which occurred at a time of comparatively robust economic performance, were perceived by contemporaries as a crisis closely related to the economic system. This debate led to a new impetus to recast the formerly dominant quantitative-growth paradigm in terms of environmental policies and qualitative growth. It was spearheaded by critical intellectuals within the OECD Secretariat and the OECD's Committee on Science and Technology Policy, who were at the same time launching the Club of Rome. In this article I will draw out the main arguments, actors, relevant contexts and effects of this discussion to highlight some of the characteristics of the intellectual uncertainty so distinctive of this period. The author argues that a historical understanding of this ‘crisis before the crisis’ demands a broader conception of economic crisis, one that is able to grapple with the divergence of economic growth, human welfare and environmental sustainability.     

First results of metallographic analysis and absolute dating of iron finds from Nowe Brzesko,site 26, Proszowice District

This paper presents the results of analyses of metal artefacts discovered at a multiphase site in Nowe Brzesko, Małopolskie Voivodeship, Poland. Fieldwalking prospection led to the discovery of steely iron objects, ploughed out on the site among other numerous archeological finds. A prospecting sondage yielded more corroded metal artefacts, identified mainly as agricultural tools (e.g. sickles, scythes). These chronologically nondistinctive artefacts could be assigned to the third to fourth century AD using radiocarbon dating, complemented by metallurgical analysis. The results open up new research perspectives on the economy and society of the Przeworsk culture in the Late Roman period.