Désirée Christofzik

Deutsche Universität für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer · Department of Economics

A gradually introduced reform of local government accounting made it temporarily possible for municipalities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to avoid the effective control of their budget by the authorities in charge of overseeing local government budgets and enforcing the existing fiscal rules. Using this withdrawal of effective fisc...

Many governments have replaced traditional cash-based accounting with some form of accrual-based accounting system. However, empirical evidence on the effects of the public accounting system on fiscal policy is scarce. Following rules by the federal states, municipalities in Germany have adopted accrual-based accounting systems gradually. By exploi...

This paper explores the international transmission of U.S. tax shocks. Using structural vector autoregressions, we study the impact on the German economy and on German tax legislation. Our results suggest that, after a U.S. tax cut, German GDP increases only moderately. Positive effects via the income channel outweigh negative effects stemming from...

This paper quantifies the dynamic macroeconomic effects of tax changes in Germany, allowing for anticipation effects of preannounced tax reforms. Identification is achieved using a narrative approach, which provides information about the timing of tax reforms. An anticipated cut in taxes has a positive effect on output with a peak multiplier of 1.7...

We investigate whether the public provision of positional goods can be a sensible instrument to address inefficiencies arising from relative-standing externalities associated with the excessive consumption of such goods. In situations where consumers face a discrete choice between a private and a public alternative, providing the latter for free or...

Since 2022, inflation and interest rates in Germany have noticeably increased. We examine the impact of heightened inflation and interest rates on the financial balances of municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia. In our scenario analysis, we consider systematic differences between highly and less indebted municipalities. While there are positive...

In recent years, Germany has defused numerous political conflicts through additional financial leeway. Alongside declining interest expenses, high employment, low unemployment and strong corporate profits have led to increased tax revenues and reduced social expenditures. Special funds, reserves and changed accounting practices were used during the...

Zusammenfassung In der Septemberausgabe 2020 veröffentlichte der Wirtschaftsdienst einen Aufsatz mit dem Titel „Bremst die Doppik öffentliche Investitionen? Ergebnisse aus drei aktuellen Evaluationsstudien“ von Désirée Christofzik, Florian Dorn, Stefanie Gäbler, Christian Raffer und Felix Rösel. Stephan Stüber vertritt in einer Replik eine andere A...

Zusammenfassung Internationale Organisationen empfehlen nachdrücklich, öffentliche Haushalte von der klassischen kameralen Buchführung auf die doppelte Buchführung (Doppik) umzustellen. Doppische Haushalte sollen den Wertverzehr der öffentlichen Infrastruktur offenlegen und die implizite Verschuldung sichtbar machen. Drei unabhängig voneinander ent...

A missing element in the architecture of the euro area is a mechanism for an orderly restructuring of unsustainable sovereign debt. Clear rules for creditor participation in case of overindebtedness would strengthen market discipline and enhance the effectiveness of crisis assistance. We propose a novel two‐stage mechanism that allows for postponin...

There is a rising political discussion in Germany around abolishing the final withholding tax on capital income. The German tax reforms that introduced this tax lowered tax rates, in particular on interest income. According to some authors, the growing inequality of income and property is a strong argument for the higher taxation of capital income....

Collaborative software supports teams involved in a common task in generating and sharing information over geographic distances. Such software is used in the cooperation between organisations, companies or individuals. The overall quality of the resulting information product depends on the quality of the individual contributions as well as on an un...