IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/zeiwps/b012009.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Fiscal federalism in Germany: Stabilization and redistribution before and after unification

Author

Listed:
  • Hepp, Ralf
  • von Hagen, Jürgen

Abstract

We provide empirical estimates of the risk-sharing and redistributive properties of the German federal from 1970 until 2006, with special attention to the effects of German fiscal system base unification. We find that tax revenue sharing between the states and the federal government and the fiscal equalization mechanism (Länderfinanzausgleich) together reduce differences in per-capita state incomes by 36.9 percent during period 1970 to 1994. After the full integration of East German states into the mechanism in 1995, the redistributive effects increase slightly to about 38.6 percent. With respect to the insurance effect of the German fiscal system, our results indicate that the federal fiscal system offsets 47 percent of an asymmetric shock to state per-capita incomes. This effect has significantly decreased after the inclusion of the East German states in 1995. Furthermore, we find that the German fiscal system provides almost perfect insurance for state government budgets against asymmetric revenue shocks; also, its redistributive effect with regard to the tax resources available to state governments is very strong.

Suggested Citation

  • Hepp, Ralf & von Hagen, Jürgen, 2009. "Fiscal federalism in Germany: Stabilization and redistribution before and after unification," ZEI Working Papers B 01-2009, University of Bonn, ZEI - Center for European Integration Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zeiwps:b012009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/39637/1/607963433.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans Pitlik & Friedrich Schneider & Harald Strotmann, 2006. "Legislative Malapportionment and the Politicization of Germany's Intergovernmental Transfer System," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(6), pages 637-662, November.
    2. Baron, David P. & Ferejohn, John A., 1989. "Bargaining in Legislatures," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(4), pages 1181-1206, December.
    3. Robin Boadway, 2004. "The Theory and Practice of Equalization," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 50(1), pages 211-254.
    4. Pierfederico Asdrubali & Bent E. Sørensen & Oved Yosha, 1996. "Channels of Interstate Risk Sharing: United States 1963–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(4), pages 1081-1110.
    5. van Wincoop, Eric, 1995. "Regional risksharing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1545-1567, October.
    6. Falko Jüßen, 2006. "Interregional risk sharing and fiscal redistribution in unified Germany," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 85(2), pages 235-255, June.
    7. Stefano G. Athanasoulis & Eric van Wincoop, 2001. "Risk Sharing Within The United States: What Do Financial Markets And Fiscal Federalism Accomplish?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(4), pages 688-698, November.
    8. Büttner, Thiess, 1999. "Regional Stabilization by Fiscal Equalization? Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Evidence from Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 99-23, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Bernd Huber & Christian Baretti & Karl Lichtblau, 2000. "A Tax on Tax Revenue. The Incentive Effects of Equalizing Transfers: Evidence from Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 333, CESifo.
    10. Hans Pitlik, 2004. "Zur Politischen Rationalitaet der Finanzausgleichsreform in Deutschland," Diskussionspapiere aus dem Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Hohenheim 239/2004, Department of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Germany.
    11. Lockwood, Ben, 1999. "Inter-regional insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 1-37, April.
    12. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1996. "Federal Fiscal Constitutions: Risk Sharing and Moral Hazard," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(3), pages 623-646, May.
    13. Melitz, Jacques & Zumer, Frederic, 2002. "Regional redistribution and stabilization by the center in Canada, France, the UK and the US:: A reassessment and new tests," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 263-286, November.
    14. Mueller,Dennis C., 2003. "Public Choice III," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521894753, October.
    15. Razin, A. & Sadka, E., 1997. "Globalization : Public Economics Policy Perspectives," Papers 20-97, Tel Aviv.
    16. Melitz, Jacques & Zumer, Frédéric, 1998. "Regional Redistribution and Stabilization by the Centre in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States: New Estimates Based on Panel Data Econometrics," CEPR Discussion Papers 1829, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Asdrubali, Pierfederico & Kim, Soyoung, 2004. "Dynamic risksharing in the United States and Europe," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 809-836, May.
    18. Brennan,Geoffrey & Buchanan,James M., 2006. "The Power to Tax," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521027922, October.
    19. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1996. "Federal Fiscal Constitutions: Risk Sharing and Redistribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 979-1009, October.
    20. Kletzer, Kenneth & von Hagen, Jurgen, 2000. "Monetary Union and Fiscal Federalism," CEPR Discussion Papers 2615, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Robin Boadway & Anwar Shah, 2007. "Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers : Principles and Practice," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7171.
    22. Andrew Atkeson & Tamim Bayoumi, 1993. "Do private capital markets insure regional risk? Evidence from the United States and Europe," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 303-324, September.
    23. Becker, Sascha O. & Hoffmann, Mathias, 2006. "Intra- and international risk-sharing in the short run and the long run," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 777-806, April.
    24. Melitz, Jacques & Zumer, Frederic, 2002. "Regional redistribution and stabilization by the center in Canada, France, the UK and the US:: A reassessment and new tests," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 263-286, November.
    25. Canzoneri,Matthew B. & Grilli,Vittorio & Masson,Paul R. (ed.), 1992. "Establishing a Central Bank," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521420983, October.
    26. Pitlik, Hans & Schmid, Gunther & Strotmann, Harald, 2001. "Bargaining Power of Smaller States in Germany's Landerfinanzausgleich 1979-90," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 109(1-2), pages 183-201, October.
    27. Lenk, Thomas & Birke, Anja, 2000. "Solidarpakt-II-Verhandlungen im Lichte des Urteils des Bundesverfassungsgerichts zum Länderfinanzausgleich vom 11. November 1999," Arbeitspapiere des Lehrstuhls Finanzwissenschaft 14, University of Leipzig, Institute of Public Finance and Public Management.
    28. Bayoumi, Tamim & Masson, Paul R., 1995. "Fiscal flows in the United States and Canada: Lessons for monetary union in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 253-274, February.
    29. Xavier Sala-i-Martin & Jeffrey Sachs, 1991. "Fiscal Federalism and Optimum Currency Areas: Evidence for Europe From the United States," NBER Working Papers 3855, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Buettner, Thiess, 2002. "Fiscal federalism and interstate risk sharing: empirical evidence from Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 195-202, January.
    31. Sorensen, B.E. & Yosha, O., 1997. "Federal Insurance of the U.S. States: An Empirical Investigation," Papers 16-97, Tel Aviv.
    32. Homburg, Stefan, 1994. "Anreizwirkungen des deutschen Finanzausgleichs," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 312-330.
    33. Michael Smart, 2004. "Equalization and Stabilization," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 30(2), pages 195-208, June.
    34. Bucovetsky, Sam, 1998. "Federalism, equalization and risk aversion," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 301-328, March.
    35. David Wildasin, 1996. "Introduction: Fiscal Aspects of Evolving Federations," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 3(2), pages 121-135, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Santiago Lago-Peñas & Albino Prada & Alberto Vaquero, 2015. "On the size and determinants of inter-regional redistribution in European countries over the period 1995–2009," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 845-864, November.
    2. Claudia M. Buch, 2013. "From the Stability Pact to ESM - What Next?," Chapters, in: Andreas Dombret & Otto Lucius (ed.), Stability of the Financial System, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Heinemann, Friedrich & Janeba, Eckhard & Moessinger, Marc-Daniel & Schröder, Christoph, 2013. "Revenue autonomy preference in German state parliaments," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-090, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Yongzheng Liu, 2014. "Does competition for capital discipline governments? The role of fiscal equalization," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(3), pages 345-374, June.
    5. Masayoshi Hayashi, 2012. "Channels of Stabilization in a System of Local Public Health Insurance: The Case of the National Health Insurance in Japan," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-847, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    6. Burriel, Pablo & Chronis, Panagiotis & Freier, Maximilian & Hauptmeier, Sebastian & Reiss, Lukas & Stegarescu, Dan & Van Parys, Stefan, 2020. "A fiscal capacity for the euro area: lessons from existing fiscal-federal systems," Occasional Paper Series 239, European Central Bank.
    7. Lars P. Feld & Christoph A. Schaltegger & Janine Studerus, 2018. "Regional Risk Sharing and Redistribution - The Role of Fiscal Mechanisms in Switzerland," CESifo Working Paper Series 6902, CESifo.
    8. Ralf Hepp & Jürgen von Hagen, 2013. "Interstate risk sharing in Germany: 1970--2006," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 65(1), pages 1-24, January.
    9. Falilou Fall & Debra Bloch & Jean-Marc Fournier & Peter Hoeller, 2015. "Prudent debt targets and fiscal frameworks," OECD Economic Policy Papers 15, OECD Publishing.
    10. Luca Rossi, 2021. "Revisiting the Case for a Fiscal Union: the Federal Fiscal Channel of Downside-Risk Sharing in the United States," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1351, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    11. Jurgen von Hagen, 2016. "Fiscal Federalism: Public Goods, Transfers, and Common Pools," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 10(2), pages 41-75, December.
    12. Sinelnikov-Murylev Sergey & Turuntseva Marina & Bozhechkova Alexandra & Mamedov Arseny, 2018. "Stabilizing features of transfers allocated to the Russian regions from the Federal budget," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 173P, pages 1-68.
    13. Bozhechkova, A. & Mamedov, A. & Sinelnikov-Murylev, S. & Turuntseva, M., 2018. "Stabilization Properties of Federal Fiscal Transfers to Russian Regions," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 61-83.
    14. Etienne Farvaque & Florence Huart, 2017. "A policymaker’s guide to a Euro area stabilization fund," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 34(1), pages 11-30, April.
    15. Bremer, Björn & Di Carlo, Donato & Wansleben, Leon, 2021. "The constrained politics of local public investments under cooperative federalism," MPIfG Discussion Paper 21/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    16. Virkola, Tuomo, 2014. "Fiscal Federalism in Four Federal Countries," ETLA Reports 38, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    17. Masayoshi Hayashi, 2013. "On the Decomposition of Regional Stabilization and Redistribution," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-910, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    18. Simone Maxand & Hend Sallam, 2024. "Local Fiscal Effects of Immigration in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 11162, CESifo.
    19. Tsai-Yuan Huang & Po-Chin Wu & Ching-Wen Yan, 2014. "Revisiting the redistribution effects of intergovernmental fiscal transfers: evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 341-359, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ralf Hepp & Jürgen von Hagen, 2013. "Interstate risk sharing in Germany: 1970--2006," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 65(1), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Davide Furceri & Aleksandra Zdzienicka, 2015. "The Euro Area Crisis: Need for a Supranational Fiscal Risk Sharing Mechanism?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 683-710, September.
    3. Evers, Michael P., 2012. "Federal fiscal transfer rules in monetary unions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 507-525.
    4. Linda Andersson, 2008. "Fiscal Flows and Financial Markets: To What Extent Do They Provide Risk Sharing within Sweden?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(7), pages 1003-1011.
    5. Sanguinetti, Pablo & Tommasi, Mariano, 2004. "Intergovernmental transfers and fiscal behavior insurance versus aggregate discipline," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 149-170, January.
    6. Evers, Michael P., 2015. "Fiscal federalism and monetary unions: A quantitative assessment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 59-75.
    7. Eiji Fujii, 2017. "Government Size, Trade Openness, and Output Volatility: A Case of fully Integrated Economies," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 661-684, September.
    8. Fiorelli, Cristiana & Giannini, Massimo & Martini, Barbara, 2022. "Private and public risk sharing across Italian regions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Becerra, Ligia Melo, 2004. "Intergovernmental fiscal relations : the Colombian case," Economics PhD Theses 0304, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. Andersson, Linda, 2004. "Output Smoothing between Regions in Sweden," Umeå Economic Studies 643, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    11. Giampaolo Arachi & Caterina Ferrario & Alberto Zanardi, 2010. "Regional Redistribution and Risk Sharing in Italy: The Role of Different Tiers of Government," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 55-69.
    12. Tsai-Yuan Huang & Po-Chin Wu & Ching-Wen Yan, 2014. "Revisiting the redistribution effects of intergovernmental fiscal transfers: evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 341-359, December.
    13. Ortuno-Ortin, Ignacio & Sempere, Jaume, 2006. "A theoretical model of nations, regions and fiscal integration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 132-157, January.
    14. Stefano Athanasoulis & Eric Van Wincoop, 1998. "Risksharing within the United States: what have financial markets and fiscal federalism accomplished?," Research Paper 9808, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    15. Luca Rossi, 2021. "Revisiting the Case for a Fiscal Union: the Federal Fiscal Channel of Downside-Risk Sharing in the United States," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1351, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    16. Buettner, Thiess, 2009. "The contribution of equalization transfers to fiscal adjustment: Empirical results for German municipalities and a US-German comparison," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 417-431, September.
    17. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/765 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Timothy Goodspeed & Andrew Haughwout, 2012. "On the optimal design of disaster insurance in a federation," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-27, March.
    19. Jonathan Rodden, 2009. "Federalism and Inter-Regional Redistribution," Working Papers 2009/3, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    20. Faruk Balli & Syed Basher & Rosmy Jean Louis, 2012. "Channels of risk-sharing among Canadian provinces: 1961–2006," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 763-787, October.
    21. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/765 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Cimadomo, Jacopo & Gordo Mora, Esther & Palazzo, Alessandra Anna, 2022. "Enhancing private and public risk sharing: lessons from the literature and reflections on the COVID-19 crisis," Occasional Paper Series 306, European Central Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional Risk-sharing; Fiscal Federalism; Monetary Union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:zeiwps:b012009. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zeibnde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.