Competition among Nation States

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Kai A. Konrad
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics
• Term: from 2008 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 54863165

The increasing economic integration and mobility of production factors over the last twenty-five years have raised new challenging issues concerning the design and implementation of public policies. Seen from the perspective of competition among nation states, many old research questions gain a new and important policy interest, as many institutional aspects of the nation state that have been considered parametric become policy variables. By developing new approaches to analyse tax competition in a dynamic setting and the institutional design of governance, both from a positive and normative perspective, this research project tackles several burning issues for France and Germany: How should one counter the harmful effects of tax competition in a dynamic setting? What are the determinants of the mobility and earnings of workers in France and Germany? What is the optimal design of fiscal rules and intergovernmental responsibilities in a competitive environment? The current proposal bring together researchers from two leading research centres in public economics, GREQAM in France and WZB in Germany, who want to reinforce the interaction between French and German economists, with a view to developing new and fruitful approaches to problems facing policy makers in their respective countries and in Europe.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Francis Bloch