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The “Market Processes and Governance” research unit at the Social Science
Research Center Berlin (WZB) undertakes basic, problem-oriented
research. This research focuses on governance problems of the public
sector in light of the crucially important growing economic
interdependence amongst countries (e.g. as a consequence of increased
globalisation) and the – often fiercely debated – changing institutional
structures of government at the (sub-)national and international levels.
As such, the research of the unit is deeply embedded in the theory of
fiscal federalism, a theory that analyses the normative and positive
implications of the relations between different governments (both
horizontally and vertically). It more specifically addresses how the
public sector is affected by and reacts to this changing economic and
institutional environment – in terms of, for example, taxation, industry
subsidies, labour market regulation, education, welfare state
retrenchment, trade and FDI. The findings and discussions deriving from
both theoretical and theory-based empirical analyses provide
policy-makers with tangible recommendations concerning the effects of
such changes in the institutional structure of governance and the
changing economic environment. |
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