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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Donatella Baiardi; Carluccio Bianchi; Eleonora Lorenzini |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationships between export price and income elasticities, average unit values (AUVs) and market shares for the top world food exporters in the time period 1992-2011 using a panel data framework. Emerging countries and Spain show a high price elasticity unlike other advanced countries. Moreover, an inverse relationship between price elasticities and AUVs is found to exist. The overall analysis enables the conclusion that advanced countries can maintain a specialization in low-tech sectors only if high prices, as indicators of high quality, are accompanied by a rigid foreign demand and a satisfactory income elasticity of exports. |
| Keywords: | Food Exports, Price elasticity, Income elasticity, Panel Granger causality |
| JEL: | F14 L66 Q17 C23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:262&r=eur |
| By: | Boulanger, Pierre; Ferrari, Emanuele; Michalek, Jerzy; Philippidis, George; Vinyes, Cristina |
| Abstract: | Croatia joined the European Union (EU) on July 1st, 2013. This paper assesses the likely effects of this accession on the agricultural and food sectors, and analyses the impact on the EU, Croatia and their main trading partners. It considers both the harmonization of Croatia's trade instruments with those applied in the EU, and the adoption of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The analysis is carried out using MAGNET, a global recursive dynamic CGE model. Results show that Croatia slightly benefits from its accession to the EU with an increase in GDP, whereas the impact on the EU-27's GDP is insignificant. Total exports of Croatian agricultural products increase by 7.4% and those of food products decrease by 2%. Croatia will face some changes in its production structure. At constant prices, agricultural production benefits (increasing by 1.1%), whereas food production contracts (decreasing by 5.5%). This result sheds some light on competitiveness limitations of the Croatian food processing industry. The scope of this paper is to model both European trade and agricultural policies. It is worth mentioning that other EU policies such as the structural or cohesion policies, and additional gains resulting from the accession such as a less risky investment environment or a more efficient regulatory framework, are not modelled. |
| Keywords: | CGE, European integration, agricultural policy, agricultural trade, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa135:160373&r=eur |
| By: | Dieter Pennerstorfer (WIFO); Franz Sinabell (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | A small number of firms have a large market share in the Austrian food retailing market. Market concentration has been growing over the last years which has raised concerns about market power. Previous studies on price setting behaviour in the food retailing market were at the national level and regional price setting has not yet been analysed. We use a panel data set of over 2,000 households with monthly food purchasing data and the number of outlets of the nine biggest food retailers in 120 districts to explore regional price setting behaviour. The analysis shows that only a small number of retailers seem to regionally differentiate prices extensively. It cannot be confirmed that spatial price differentiation is a way to exert market power in the Austrian food retailing market. |
| Keywords: | Market power, Food retailing, Spatial price differentiation, Austria |
| Date: | 2013–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2013:i:458&r=eur |
| By: | Yusuf Emre Akgunduz; Egbert Jongen; Paul Leseman; Janneke Plantenga |
| Abstract: | High quality child care has been consistently linked with child development and future life outcomes. We examine how process quality in child care centers is influenced by the reduction of child care subsidies. The analysis is based on a 2012 reduction in subsidies for Dutch parents. Exploiting the different types of funding for child care centers in the Netherlands, we provide linear and non-linear difference-in- difference estimates of the effects subsidy cuts have on child care quality. The results show that the subsidy reduction had a negative effect on quality, and the effects are especially strong for higher quality centers. |
| Keywords: | child care, ECEC, quality, subsidy |
| JEL: | J13 H42 L19 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:1318&r=eur |
| By: | Hottenrott, Hanna; Lopes-Bento, Cindy |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the impact and effectiveness of targeted public support for R&D investment at the firm level. We test whether the policy design aiming at incentivizing (international) collaboration and R&D in SMEs achieves input as well as output additionality. Our results show that the targeted public subsidies trigger R&D spending, especially so in internationally collaborating SMEs. We further evaluate the different impact of privately financed and publicly-induced R&D investment on innovation performance. The results confirm that the publicly-induced R&D is productive as it translates into marketable product innovations. While both types of R&D investments trigger significant output effects, the effect of policyinduced R&D investment on sales from market novelties is highest for international collaborators as well as for SMEs. -- |
| Keywords: | Public Innovation Policy,Subsidies,R&D,SMEs,International Collaboration,Treatment Effects |
| JEL: | C14 C30 H23 O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:121&r=eur |
| By: | Simić, Jelena Damnjanović; Zakić, Vladimir |
| Abstract: | In many developing countries, regional integration has become a key means of promoting economic growth and fighting poverty. PTAs are increasingly used as engines of change in many developing countries, to promote, implement, and lock in reforms in a wide range of policy areas such as investment regimes, competition rules, and government procurement. They create larger and more competitive markets and benefit producers and consumers through economies of scale and lower prices. Although PTAs may promote development, they necessarily discriminate against nonmembers and can therefore lead to trade diversion in a way that hurts both member countries and excluded countries. Also, the proliferation of bilateral and regional PTAs may undermine progress toward a more open, transparent, and rules-based multilateral trading system. In this paper it will be discussed about the establishment and expectations of a free trade agreement CEFTA 2006. Specifically, the South East European countries, which made the majority of this regional economic integration, still have many unresolved, above all, political problems. On the other hand, the different status of these countries in the process of integration into the European Union chose the inflow of financial resources and speed necessary economic reforms. However, the global economic crisis has slowed the flow of financial resources, especially greenfield investments, deepened social stratification and mutual political differences between member states. This paper will try to answer the question: do this PTAs really contribute to deeper integration in EU? |
| Keywords: | PTAs, Integration, CEFTA, European Union, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa135:160378&r=eur |
| By: | Yusuf Emre Akgunduz; Marcel van den Berg |
| Abstract: | When it comes to discussing club football emotions tend to get heated quite easily across the globe. This heterogeneity in likes and dislikes is not only reflected in name or financial possibilities, but also in the clubs approach to building a team. We analyze whether clubs' strategies regarding buying or cultivating players have a discernable effect on their success on the pitch. For the analysis we employ match level data covering five seasons of play in top-flight Dutch and English club football leagues. The results suggest that players' tenure has a positive and significant effect on the probability of winning, but only in the English Premier League. The positive effect we find for the Premier League aligns with theories of firm specific human capital. We hypothesize the lack of significant effects in the Dutch league to be tied to clubs' inability to keep successful players with the club or buy replacements of equal quality on the transfer market, because the club-specific human capital component takes time to accumulate. |
| Keywords: | Football, human capital, tenure, winning probability |
| JEL: | D22 J24 L83 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:1317&r=eur |
| By: | Hirsch, Boris; Zwick, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Using linked employer-employee panel data for Germany, this paper investigates whether firms implement real wage reductions in a selective manner. In line with insider-outsider and several strands of efficiency wage theory, we find strong evidence for selective wage cuts with high-productivity workers being spared even when controlling for permanent differences in firms' wage policies. In contrast to some recent contributions stressing fairness considerations, we also find that wage cuts increase wage dispersion among peers rather than narrowing it. Notably, the same selectivity pattern shows up when restricting our analysis to firms covered by collective agreements or having a works council. -- Unter Verwendung verknüpfter Arbeitgeber-Arbeitnehmer-Paneldaten für Deutschland untersucht diese Studie, ob Reallohnkürzungen selektiv vorgenommen werden. Im Einklang mit der Insider-Outsider-Theorie und mehreren Varianten der Effizienzlohntheorie finden wir deutliche Hinweise auf selektive Lohnreduktionen zugunsten hochproduktiver Arbeitnehmer, selbst wenn für unbeobachtete permanente Unterschiede in den Lohnpolitiken der Firmen kontrolliert wird. Im Widerspruch zu jüngeren Arbeiten, die Fairnessüberlegungen ins Zentrum stellen, finden wir zudem, dass selektive Lohnkürzungen die Lohndispersion innerhalb von Peergruppen erhöhen. Bemerkenswerterweise zeigen sich die gleichen Selektivitätsmuster auch für die Subgruppen tarifgebundener Firmen und solcher mit einem Betriebsrat. |
| Keywords: | real wage rigidity,real wage cuts,selectivity,Germany |
| JEL: | J30 J31 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:88&r=eur |
| By: | Popović, Rade; Radovanov, Boris; Jeremić, Marija |
| Abstract: | International milk market is created by 7% of world production volume. Volatile world milk prices in recent 6 years caused different forms of its transmission to national levels. In the paper this phenomena is investigated on two levels. First, on macro level how world milk price affects national markets in case of New Zealand as leading world exporter, Germany with growing net export, and Serbia with self-sufficient production. Second, it is analysed vertical price transmission in Serbian milk supply chain, according its magnitude, speed, nature and direction in period January 2007 to May 2013. Results improved understanding how world milk price influence milk price in Serbia and how price shocks are transmitted through milk supply chain for several most important kinds of milk products.Applied vector error correction model in horizontal milk price transmission indicates asymmetry in price transmission from world to Serbian milk market. Milk prices in Serbia respond to price signals from German and world market, but with significant time lags and increasing magnitude over time. From first to fourth month delay, milk prices from German market positively influence Serbian market, and from fifth to tenth month further increasing influence of world milk prices are presented. Nature of spatial asymmetry is positive. Results of threshold vector error correction model applied on dairy supply chain, suggests similar conclusionsfor all four major dairy products on Serbian market. Retail prices react mostly on raw milk price changes, with constant response to processor’s prices. Price shocks are originate at the processor level and are passed to farmers and to retailers. Blurred relationship between processing and retail sector permits more accurate analysis. |
| Keywords: | milk, price, transmission, World, Serbia, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa135:160393&r=eur |
| By: | Giuseppe Cappelletti (Bank of Italy); Giovanni Guazzarotti (Bank of Italy); Pietro Tommasino (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We propose a new method to identify the impact of a change in the tax burden on mutual fund inflows, exploiting a switch from an accrual-based to a lization-based tax regime. We use quasi-experimental data from Italy where, starting from July 2011, the tax regime for domestic mutual funds was changed from an accruals basis to a realization basis, while the taxation of foreign funds remained on a realization basis. We find that the reform has had a positive effect on net inflows of Italian funds (the treated group) with respect to foreign funds (the control group). The effect is both economically and statistically significant. Moreover, we find no evidence that the increase in the demand for Italian funds came at the expense of foreign funds. |
| Keywords: | mutual funds, net flows, taxation |
| JEL: | G20 G2 H2 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_938_13&r=eur |
| By: | Obst, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the nexus between the phenomenon of increasing income inequality and redistributive effects of the public sector. In an empirical analysis of seven OECD countries the redistributive effect will be examined by measuring the difference between inequality of market incomes and disposable incomes. Moreover, this paper will try to estimate the redistributive effect of public goods. The period of investigation is between the mid 1980s and the mid 2000s. The paper suggests that the public sector still reduces market income inequality significantly but to a lower extent than in the previous decades and with greater variation across different welfare regimes. Public goods further reduce income inequality considerably. However, the estimation and allocation process of these in-kind benefits involves several methodological issues that need to be taken into account when evaluating the empirical results. Furthermore, the empirical analysis indicates that market forces drove greater income inequality until the mid 1990s, and structural changes in tax and transfer systems reinforced this trend from the mid 1990s onwards. -- |
| Keywords: | income inequality,welfare state,public sector,redistribution,tax and transfer systems,public goods,market and disposable income |
| JEL: | H23 H41 H53 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:292013&r=eur |
| By: | Doucha, Tomáš; Pohlová, Karina |
| Abstract: | The development of the Czech agricultural trade after EU accession in 2004 is a reflexion of changing trade conditions (especially the entry on the EU single market and taking over the EU commitments to the WTO), effectiveness of the Czech agriculture and food industry. The main characteristics of the changes are the growth of the negative trade balance, a substantial increase of the trade turnover with EU countries to the detriment of the third countries and the growth of exports of agricultural raw materials accompanied with the growth of imports of more processed products. The main cause is the orientation of the Czech agriculture on products with a lower demand on labour quantity and quality and on simpler technologies, together with a lower effectiveness of domestic primary processors. Besides the global trade indicators, this development is documented by selected RCA indicators. |
| Keywords: | agricultural trade, Czech Republic, EU single market, agriculture, food industry, effectiveness, revealed comparative advantage, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa135:160380&r=eur |
| By: | Samuel Muehlemann (University of Bern & IZA Bonn); Harald Pfeifer (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) Bonn & Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) Maastricht); Felix Wenzelmann (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) Bonn) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use firm-level data to analyse a firmÕs costs of recruiting apprentices in Germany. We find that recruitment costs amount on average to 600 Euros per hire (approximately one month of apprentice pay), but costs are heterogenous across firms and vary strongly with the training occupation. Our results suggest that shortages in the local supply of apprentices and a high degree of competition among training firms in the region increase recruitment costs. Furthermore, we find that firms with a works council or an investment-oriented training strategy incur higher recruitment costs. Finally, marginal recruitment costs first increase but eventually decrease for firms hiring a large number of apprentices. Our results are important in light of the increasing firm competition for talented school leavers induced by demographic change. |
| Keywords: | Recruitment costs, apprenticeship training, human capital investment, local labour markets, local training markets, demographic change |
| JEL: | J24 J32 J63 M53 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0095&r=eur |
| By: | : Arie E. Gozluklu; : Pietro Perotti; : Barbara Rindi; : Roberta Fredella |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbs:wpaper:wpn13-11&r=eur |
| By: | Catia Batista (Nova University of Lisbon); Gaia Narciso (Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Do information flows matter for remittance behavior? We design and implement a randomized control trial to quantitatively assess the role of communication between migrants and their contacts abroad on the extent and value of remittance flows. In the experiment, a random sample of 1,500 migrants residing in Ireland was offered the possibility of contacting their networks outside the host country for free over a varying number of months. We find a sizable, positive impact of our intervention on the value of migrant remittances sent. Our results exclude that the remittance effect we identify is a simple substitution effect. Instead, our analysis points to this effect being a likely result of improved information via factors such as better migrant control over remittance use, enhanced trust in remittance channels due to experience sharing, or increased remittance recipients’ social pressure on migrants. |
| Keywords: | information flows, international migration, migrantnetworks, remittances, randomized control trial |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1331&r=eur |
| By: | Anna Piil Damm (Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University); Christian Dustmann (University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of early exposure to neighborhood crime on subsequent criminal behavior of youth exploiting a unique natural experiment between 1986 and 1998 when refugee immigrants to Denmark were assigned to neighborhoods quasi-randomly. We find strong evidence that the share of young people convicted for crimes, in particular violent crimes, in the neighborhood increases convictions of male assignees later in life. No such effects are found for other measures of neighborhood crime including the rate of committed crimes. Our findings suggest social interaction as a key channel through which neighborhood crime is linked to individual criminal behavior. |
| Keywords: | Neighborhood effects, criminal convictions, social interactions, random allocation |
| JEL: | J0 H43 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1329&r=eur |
| By: | Rau, Mari-Luise; Aikaterini, Kavallari |
| Abstract: | Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have widely spread in recent years. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) notes that 546 RTAs were notified by January 2013, whereas only 380 were notified by 2007. RTAs have been considered as a stumbling block for the slow progress of the WTO Doha Round, and multilateral liberalisation is said to cause erosion of preferences enjoyed under bilateralism. That is, third country exporters that benefit from multilateral trade liberalization increase their exports, whereas the preferential suppliers in bilateral trade agreements face a decrease of their exports, given the substitutability between export products from different countries. Preference erosion also occurs when countries take up new bilateral trade agreements that can result in “old” trade partner countries losing their preferential treatment. The European Union (EU) has granted preferential market access to a large number of countries and is by far the main trading partner of its neighbouring countries, including Mediterranean partner countries (MED countries). Following the Association Agreements with the EU, there have been efforts of enhanced engagement and co-operation, especially after the Arab spring developments, but negotiations for so called free and comprehensive trade agreements (DCFTAs) are also under way with other partner countries. The objective of this paper is to look into possible preference erosion effects from the perspective of MED countries by depicting recent EU trade agreements as well as multilateral trade liberalisation in a simulation analysis. We apply the MAGNET (Modular Applied General Equilibrium Tool) model that builds upon the GTAP (Global Trade Analysis Project) model in a recursive dynamic general equilibrium framework, with a reference scenario that reflects the economic and population growth paths via most recent projections taken from the literature. |
| Keywords: | preference erosion, Mediterranean partner countries, trade liberalisation, DCFTAs, CGE modelling, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa135:160394&r=eur |
| By: | Voegtle, Eva Maria; Fulge, Timm |
| Abstract: | The Bologna Process (BP) has induced a remarkable amount of structural higher education policy change in its participating countries. From a program-theoretical perspective, one of the main benefits associated with these changes is thought to be increased student mobility between participating countries. However, due to a lack of suitable data and the highly heterogeneous nature of the newly-formed European Higher Education Area (EHEA), it has thus far remained unclear whether student mobility has indeed increased and, if it has, whether countries benefit evenly. In this paper, we aim to evaluate (1) whether the Bologna Process has led to an increase in degree seeking student mobility within as well as beyond the EHEA and (2) whether the exchange relationships are balanced. Drawing from previous literature on student mobility, we isolate the impact of BP membership from other factors hypothesized to shape mobility flows. Methodologically, we employ a two-fold approach: First, we conduct time-series-crosssection (TSCS) analyses of both in- and outbound degree seeking student mobility ratios, establishing which factors account for the overall attractiveness of higher education systems. Secondly, we take a dyadic approach in order to analyze push and pull factors between pairs of countries. In short, we find that while membership in the Bologna Process does not have an impact on inbound mobility ratios, outbound mobility ratios have indeed increased within the group of BP members. However, although participation in the BP per se does not further inbound mobility or relevance of exchange relationships, cross-national student exchange patterns within this group are more balanced compared to those of non-participants. In conclusion, the BP has failed to establish the EHEA as a favorite destination for degree seeking student mobility. -- Der Bologna-Prozess hat weitreichende hochschulpolitische Veränderungen in den teilnehmenden Ländern hervorgerufen. Ein zentrales Ziel dieser strukturellen Veränderungen war es, studentische Mobilität zwischen den teilnehmenden Ländern zu erhöhen. Aufgrund der unzureichenden Datenlage und der hohen Heterogenität innerhalb des neu gegründeten Europäischen Hochschulraumes bleibt die Frage, ob das Ziel gestiegener Mobilität tatsächlich erreicht worden ist, ungeklärt. Auch ist bisher noch nicht untersucht worden, ob die Mobilitätsmuster zwischen den teilnehmen Ländern - wie durch den Bologna-Prozess angestrebt - ausgeglichener geworden sind. In diesem Arbeitspapier analysieren wir daher, ob der Bologna-Prozess zu einer Zunahme der länderübergreifenden studentischen Mobilität geführt hat und inwiefern diese Austauschprozesse ausgeglichen sind. Unter Rückgriff auf bestehende Literatur zu internationaler studentischer Mobilität isolieren wir den Einfluss des Bologna-Prozesses von anderen Faktoren, die studentische Mobilität prägen. Dabei wird einerseits eine Time-Series-Cross-Section (TSCS) Analyse von aufgenommenen internationalen Studierenden (inbound mobility) als auch ausgehenden nationalen Studierenden (outbound mobility) durchgeführt. Darüber hinaus untersuchen wir anhand des dyadischen Ansatzes welche Faktoren die Attraktivität eines Landes als Studienort im zwischenstaatlichen Vergleich bestimmen. Zusammenfassend können wir feststellen, dass Mitgliedschaft im Bologna-Prozess per se nicht die Attraktivität als Studiendestination für ausländische Studierende erhöht. Jedoch wirkt sich die Teilnahme förderlich auf ausgehende Mobilität aus und die studentischen Austauschprozesse zwischen den Teilnehmern sind ausgeglichener im Vergleich zu den Nicht-Teilnehmenden OECD Ländern. Insgesamt konstatieren wir, dass der Bologna Prozess nicht das Ziel erreicht hat den Europäischen Hochschulraum als bevorzugte Studiendestination für den Abschluss eines gesamten Studienzyklus zu etablieren. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:sfb597:179&r=eur |
| By: | Banović, Marija; Ševarlić, Miladin M. |
| Abstract: | Meat market has always had a special attention due to repeating crises and confidence breakdowns. Even though global meat trade has grown in the past decades, driven mainly by gains in poultry and pig meat originating from developing regions, many countries that produce and consume meat still remain disconnected by trade. Trade barriers, as sanitary and protectionist standards, have heavily influenced meat market. Sanitary standards related to animal diseases, food safety concerns and health issue awareness mostly identify those countries that are “free” and those that are “not free” of potential risks. Although sanitary barriers can inhibit trade flows they protect against the spread of serious diseases and other risks that can break animal production. On the other hand, protectionist barriers in the form of tariffs and tariff-rate quotas designed as domestic support may distort international markets and prevent significant potential trade in meats. The EU occupies an important position in the world meat market due to its export performance drawn from subsidies and sanitary and protection barriers that have been the focus of strong criticism by some developed and developing countries, among others. The Doha round has had an ambitious call in lowering protectionist barriers and achieving substantial improvements in market access and reductions of export subsidies and in tradedistorting domestic support. Yet, major protectionist barriers linger even so and the average global meat tariffs are higher than the average tariffs for other agricultural goods. Furthermore, these developments in trade liberalization and market access seem not to be only precondition for trade to occur as well as only answer to meat crisis. |
| Keywords: | EU meat market, Doha Round, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa135:160371&r=eur |
| By: | Tangian, Andranik S. |
| Abstract: | The outcomes of the 2013 German Bundestag (federal parliament) election are analyzed from the viewpoint of direct democracy. For this purpose, the party positions on 36 topical issues are compared with the results of public opinion polls, and the party and coalition indices of popularity (the average percentage of the population represented) and universality (frequency in representing a majority) are constructed. It is shown that the 2013 election winner, the union of two conservative parties CDU/CSU with their 41.6% of the votes, is the least representative among the four parties eligible for parliament seats (with > 5% of the votes). The most representative among the eligible ones is the left party, DIE LINKE, which received only 8.6% of the votes. It is concluded that voters are not very consistent with their own political profiles, disregard party manifestos, and are likely driven by political traditions, even if outdated, or by personal images of politicians. Moreover, the actual practice of coalition formation further aggravates the low representativeness of the parliament. Thereby it is shown that representative democracy, as it is, guarantees no adequate representation of public opinion, even in Germany with its multiparty system and strong socialdemocratic traditions. To bridge the gap between representative and direct democracies, an alternative election procedure is proposed. For illustration, it is hypothetically applied to redistribute the Bundestag seats to increase its representativeness. -- |
| Keywords: | representative democracy,direct democracy,elections,coalitions,theory of voting,mathematical theory of democracy,indices of popularity and universality |
| JEL: | D71 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:49&r=eur |