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Identifying the effects of place-based policies – Evidence from Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Titze, Mirko
  • Dettmann, Eva
  • Brachert, Matthias

Abstract

The German government provides discretionary investment grants to structural weak regions to allow them to overcome disadvantages. The legislatives of the European Union (EU) however restrict the number of supported regions: The share of population in assisted regions is not allowed to exceed an arbitrarily defined threshold. We use a regression-discontinuity design that exploits a discrete jump in the probability to receive investment grants. Thus, we identify causal effects of the investment grant treatment on area level economic outcomes. We find positive effects for regional gross value added and productivity growth but no effects for employment and gross wages growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Titze, Mirko & Dettmann, Eva & Brachert, Matthias, 2016. "Identifying the effects of place-based policies – Evidence from Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145735, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145735
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Schnabel, Isabel & Truger, Achim & Wieland, Volker, 2019. "Den Strukturwandel meistern. Jahresgutachten 2019/20 [Dealing with Structural Change. Annual Report 2019/20]," Annual Economic Reports / Jahresgutachten, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, volume 127, number 201920, September.
    4. Krenz, Astrid, 2019. "What drives the location choice of new manufacturing plants in Germany?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 378, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    5. Brachert, Matthias & Giebler, Alexander & Heimpold, Gerhard & Titze, Mirko & Urban-Thielicke, Dana, 2018. "IWH-Subventionsdatenbank: Mikrodaten zu Programmen direkter Unternehmenssubventionen in Deutschland. Datendokumentation," IWH Technical Reports 2/2018, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    6. Lerche, Adrian, 2019. "Investment Tax Credits and the Response of Firms," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203526, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    JEL classification:

    • Z00 - Other Special Topics - - General - - - General
    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis

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