Diss. Göteborg : University.

Saarbrücken, Univ., Diplomarb., 2003.

Im Rahmen der Dissertation wird die Anwendung und Wirkung von Kernelementen des New Public Management (NPM) am Beispiel der Bürgerdienste der sechs europäischen Hauptstädte Berlin, Brüssel, Kopenhagen, Madrid, Prag und Warschau analysiert. Hierbei steht der Vergleich von Hauptstädten der MOE-Staaten mit Hauptstädten alter EU-Mitgliedsstaaten im Vordergrund. Es wird die folgende Forschungshypothese untersucht: Die Verwaltungen in den Hauptstädten der östlichen Mitgliedsstaaten der EU haben in Folge der grundsätzlichen gesellschaftlichen und politischen Umbrüche in den 1990er Jahren bedeutend mehr Kernelemente des NPM beim Neuaufbau ihrer öffentlichen Verwaltungen eingeführt. Durch den folgerichtigen Aufbau kundenorientierter und moderner Verwaltungen sowie der strikten Anwendung der Kernelemente des New Public Management arbeiten die Bürgerdienste in den Hauptstädten östlicher EU-Mitgliedsstaaten effizienter und wirkungsvoller als vergleichbare Bürgerdienste in den Hauptstädten westlicher EU-Mitgliedsstaaten. Zur Überprüfung der Forschungshypothese werden die Vergleichsstädte zunächst den entsprechenden Rechts- und Verwaltungstraditionen (kontinentaleuropäisch deutsch, napoleonisch und skandinavisch) zugeordnet und bezüglich ihrer Ausgangslage zum Aufbau einer modernen Verwaltung (Westeuropäische Verwaltung, Wiedervereinigungsverwaltung und Transformations-verwaltung) kategorisiert. Im Anschluss werden die institutionellen Voraussetzungen hinterfragt, was die deskriptive Darstellung der Stadt- und Verwaltungsgeschichte sowie die Untersuchung von organisatorischen Strukturen der Bürgerdienste, die Anwendung der NPM-Instrumente als auch die Innen- und Außenperspektive des NPM umfasst. Es wird festgestellt, ob und in welcher Form die Bürgerdienste der Vergleichsstädte die Kernelemente des NPM anwenden. Im Anschluss werden die Vergleichsstädte bezüglich der Anwendung der Kernelemente miteinander verglichen, wobei der Fokus auf dem persönlichen Vertriebsweg und der Kundenorientierung liegt. Der folgende Teil der Dissertation befasst sich mit dem Output der Bürgerdienste, der auf operative Resultate untersucht und verglichen wird. Hierbei stellt sich insbesondere die Frage nach den Leistungsmengen und der Produktivität des Outputs. Es werden aber auch die Ergebnisse von Verwaltungsprozessen untersucht, insbesondere in Bezug auf die Kundenorientierung. Hierfür wird ein Effizienzvergleich der Bürgerdienste in den Vergleichsstädten anhand einer relativen Effizienzmessung und der Free Disposal Hull (FDH)-Methode nach Bouckaert durchgeführt. Es ist eine Konzentration auf populäre Dienstleistungen aus dem Portfolio der Bürgerdienste notwendig. Daher werden die vergleichbaren Dienstleistungen Melde-, Personalausweis-, Führerschein- und Reisepass-angelegenheiten unter Einbeziehung des Vollzeitäquivalents zur Berechnung der Effizienz der Bürgerdienste herangezogen. Hierfür werden Daten aus den Jahren 2009 bis 2011 genutzt, die teilweise aus verwaltungsinternen Datenbanken stammen. Anschließend wird der Versuch unternommen, den Outcome in die Effizienzanalyse der Bürgerdienste einfließen zu lassen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird die Anwendbarkeit von verschiedenen erweiterten Best-Practice-Verfahren und auch eine Erweiterung der relativen Effizienzmessung und der FDH-Methode geprüft. Als Gesamtfazit der Dissertation kann festgehalten werden, dass die Bürgerdienste in den untersuchten Hauptstädten der MOE-Staaten nicht mehr Kernelemente des NPM anwenden, als die Hauptstädte der westlichen Mitgliedsstaaten der EU. Im Gegenteil wendet Prag deutlich weniger NPM-Instrumente als andere Vergleichsstädte an, wohingegen Warschau zwar viele NPM-Instrumente anwendet, jedoch immer von einer westeuropäischen Vergleichsstadt übertroffen wird. Auch die Hypothese, dass die Bürgerdienste in den Hauptstädten der MOE-Staaten effizienter arbeiten als vergleichbare Bürgerdienste in den Hauptstädten westlicher EU-Mitgliedsstaaten wurde durch die Dissertation entkräftet. Das Gegenteil ist der Fall, da Prag und Warschau im Rahmen des Effizienzvergleichs lediglich durchschnittliche oder schlechte Performances aufweisen. Die aufgestellte Hypothese ist durch die Forschungsergebnisse widerlegt, lediglich das gute Abschneiden der Vergleichsstadt Warschau bei der Anwendungsanalyse kann einen Teil der These im gewissen Umfang bestätigen. / In the context of the thesis, the application and impact of core elements of the New Public Management (NPM) is analysed using the example of the Citizen Services of six European capital cities Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Prague and Warsaw. In this connection the comparison of the capital cities in the CEE countries with capital cities in the old EU Member States is foregrounded. The following research hypothesis is examined: In consequence of the fundamental social and political upheavals in the 1990s the administrations in the capital cities of the eastern EU Member States have introduced significantly more core elements of NPM during the reorganisation of their public administrations. Due to the consequent erection of customer-oriented and modern administrations and the strict application of core elements of the New Public Management, the Citizen Services in the capital cities of eastern EU Member States work more efficient and effective than comparable Citizen Services in the capital cities of western EU Member States. To survey the research hypothesis, the capital cities are initially assigned to the relevant legal and administrative traditions (Continental European German, Napoleonic and Scandinavian) and afterwards categorised with respect to their initial position to build up a modern administration (western European administration, reunion administration and transformation administration). Thereafter institutional requirements are questioned, which includes a descriptive presentation of urban and administrative history and the analyses of organisational structures of the Citizen Services, the application of NPM instruments as well as the internal and external perspectives of the NPM. It is concluded, whether and in what form the Citizen Services of the capital cities utilise the core elements of NPM. Following the capital cities are compared regarding the application of core elements, whereat the focus is on the personal channel of distribution and customer orientation. The following part of the thesis deals with the output of Citizen Services, which is examined and compared to operational results. This raises in particular the question of the activity quantity and the efficiency of the output. But there are also examines of the results of administrative processes, particularly in reference to customer orientation. Thus a comparison of efficiency of Citizen Services in the capital cities is performed, which is based on a relative measurement of efficiency and the Free Disposal Hull Method (FDH) according to Bouckaert. A focus on popular services from the portfolio of the Citizen Services is needed, wherefore the efficiency of the Citizen Services is calculated with the comparable services identity card, driving license and passport involving the full-time equivalent. Therefor data from the years 2009 to 2011 are used, which originate from internal administrative databases. Following an attempt is made to include the outcome in the analysis of efficiency of the Citizen Services. In this context, the applicability of various advanced best practice methods and an extension of the relative measurement of efficiency and the FDH method is verified. As an overall conclusion of the thesis can be stated that the Citizen Services in the investigated capital cities of the CEE countries do not apply more core elements of the NPM compared to the capital cities of the western EU Member States. In contrast Prague applies significantly less NPM instruments compared to other capital cities, whereas Warsaw applies many NPM instruments but is always exceeded by a western European capital city. The hypothesis that the Citizen Services in the capital cities of the CEE countries work more efficiently than comparable Citizen Services in the capital cities of the western EU Member States is also ruled by the thesis. The opposite is the case as Prague and Warsaw show only an average or poor performance in the context of the comparison of efficiency. The established hypothesis is disproved by the research results, only the good performance of the capital city of Warsaw in the analysis of application is able to confirm a part of the thesis to a certain extent.

Freie Univ., Diss.--Berlin, 2006. / Zusfassung in dt. und engl. Sprache.

Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Diss., 2007.

In order to assist governments in ensuring efficient housing markets and providing access to suitable housing conditions for all people, research about the functioning of housing markets is needed. My thesis, which is comprised of three essays that repre-sent the main chapters, contributes to the research on the economic processes that work within housing markets, especially with regard to challenges that arise from ur-ban concentration. In particular, I study the following research questions: • What are causes of vacancies in the housing market? • What are the effects of real estate transfer taxes on activity in the housing market? • What are the differences between counties in the provision of technical infra-structure? 1. Causes of Vacancies We summarize theoretical approaches, which may explain the mechanisms leading to vacancies under the assumptions of the standard market model, search and matching theory and behavioral economics. Concerning the latter, we propose a new frame-work to explain why and under which conditions homeowners are hesitant to sell their dwellings, which may lead to vacancies. In this framework, we highlight the fact that even if buyers and sellers are homogenous individuals, their willingness to pay differs depending on market developments. Under the assumptions of the standard market model, we hypothesize that vacancies only arise if the market price equals the suppliers’ minimum price. Next to that, we identify the following factors that could explain an increase in vacancies: Greater market power, higher heterogeneity between dwellings, low holding costs of dwellings, high list prices, a high share of small dwell-ings, less intermediaries and a shorter mandatory period of notice of tenants. Despite the wide range of models explaining vacancies, there is need for new theoretical frameworks. We evaluate the identified hypotheses in the theoretical literature by comparing them with the results found in the empirical studies. Some hypotheses have either been in-vestigated by the empirical literature only to a limited degree or have not been inves-tigated at all. Next to the positive analysis of the mechanisms that cause vacancies, we need to pose the normative question, if and under which circumstances vacancies should be considered problematic. Vacancies in the short run may be a necessity in a search and matching context to reach an efficient market outcome; i.e., to offer poten-tial buyers a heterogeneous pool of options to choose from and to fit their individual needs. Additionally, with the assumptions of behavioral economics, an owner of a vacant dwelling might find greater pleasure in speculating with the object than a buyer would enjoy living in it. However, vacancies could indicate a welfare loss if caused by a monopoly that artificially reduces the housing supply on a market. A reduction of information asymmetry could reduce vacancies and increase welfare. 2. Effects of Real Estate Transfer Taxes German states can set their own real estate transfer tax rates. To date, the real estate transfer tax rates range between 3.5% and 6.5%. Although the tax rates do not seem to be particularly high, the tax results in a relatively high tax amount to be paid; even small changes in the tax rate may cause buyers to accelerate a planned transaction to pay a lower tax rate. In our empirical analysis of different German states, we estimate that a one-percentage-point increase in the transfer tax produces significant anticipation effects for the month just before a tax is increased (about 43% more transactions before and 44% less after) and yields approximately 6% fewer overall transactions and therefore much lower market activity. We show that in many cases, the former first-best option – to buy or sell a single-family home – is apparently no longer the optimal choice. Thus, we expect ownership rates to decrease as letting apartments becomes more attractive than selling. This questions the wisdom of real estate transfer tax increases when other political measures that attempt to support homeownership creation are in place. Addi-tionally, retired households, which tend to stay in houses that are too large after their children have left, could be discouraged from downsizing to their actual needs. Indi-viduals may forgo better job offers in other regions or accept longer commutes, which can have negative consequences on urban labor markets. 3. Efficiency of County Road Provision When houses in urban areas are expensive, an adequate road network allows residents to locate further away from agglomeration centers. This takes pressure off housing prices and infrastructure systems in cities and supports housing markets in rural areas. I use the example of county roads to study whether counties differ in their efficiency of the provision of infrastructure. Efficiency refers to the use of economic resources (input) in the most technologically efficient manner to produce a certain amount of output. Studies on the efficient provision of roads incorporated the ‘quantity’ of roads (e.g., the length of the road network) and the ‘quality’ of roads (e.g., an index that measures road condition) as the relevant output indicators. I address two major problems of previous studies. First, to measure the quality of roads, I acquired new and improved data on road condition by county governments. Second, I focus on the data referring to a road network of approximately the same age. An old road network asks for more frequent maintenance and thus higher costs. Therefore, it is possible that governments with an older road network in their region could be identified as less efficient than governments with a newer road network, even if they do not actually employ their financial resources in a less efficient manner. The results of my study indicate that there are substantial efficiency differences and efficiency reserves in the provision of roads in eastern German counties: Depending on the specification, in the median county, the same level of outputs (i.e., area of roads and road condition) could be achieved using 48% to 70% fewer inputs (i.e., expendi-tures). I also find that my results differ greatly from existing studies applying proxy data for the quality of roads (e.g., the number of accidents).

The main contribution of this thesis is a comprehensive analysis of the influence of changes in the population structure on local communities, in particular with respect to the provision of publicly provided goods. The focus is placed on the consequences of two of the major processes of demographic change, namely aging and shrinking. The three main chapters of this contribution consider the effects at the local level from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. The first model focuses on the influence of population aging on the provision of local publicly provided goods, when the young population may relocate. When aging advances, gerontocracies and social planners substitute publicly provided goods aimed at the mobile young for publicly provided goods for the elderly. However, due to fiscal competition, gerontocracies will provide even more of the publicly provided good for the young than the social planner. The second model considers in a two-period setting, the interaction of a shrinking population when the investments made by the previous generation are long lived. The laissez-faire and welfare maximizing outcomes are computed for two cases; first with no costs of upkeep and second for the case when costs of upkeep accrue. A comparison of the solutions shows that public provision for the first generation is inefficiently low in laissez-faire when there are no costs of upkeep. However, if costs of upkeep accrue, the laissez-faire outcome for the intergenerational publicly provided good may be too high. Chapter four contains an empirical analysis. In a two-stage analysis the efficiency of the provision of child care services in municipalities is evaluated in the German State of Saxony. First, the results of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) show substantial efficiency differences; the median municipality is up to 28% inefficient. In a second stage bootstrapped truncated regression, determinants of the inefficiency are identified. Explanatory variables such as an uncompensated mayor or a larger share of over 65-year-olds significantly increase inefficiency.

Humboldt-Universiẗat, Diss.--Berlin, 2005. / Zsfassung in dt., engl. und russ. Sprache, in kyrill. Schrift.

Vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen energiepolitischen Entwicklungen und des zunehmenden Kostendruckes steigen die Anforderungen an eine präzise und zugleich praxisnahe Bilanzierung, Bewertung und Optimierung des Biogasprozesses. Dies beinhaltet sowohl die detaillierte Charakterisierung und Qualitätsbewertung der individuell eingesetzten Substrate als auch die Effizienzbewertung ihrer verfahrensspezifischen Umsetzung im Fermenter. Grundsätzlich existieren in der Wissenschaft und Praxis vielfältige Untersuchungsverfahren und Berechnungsmethoden, um die Eigenschaften der eingesetzten Substrate oder den aktuellen Prozesszustand zu charakterisieren. Eine direkte Vergleichbarkeit der unterschiedlichen Verfahren auf Basis der Trockensubstanz (TS, oTS, FoTS), Futtermittel-, Elementar- oder Brennwertanalyse ist bis heute nicht gegeben. Unter Berücksichtigung der konkreten Prozessbedingungen liefern experimentelle Batchtests oder kontinuierliche Laborversuche realitätsnahe Aussagen zum Methanertrag einzelner Substrate. In der großtechnischen Anlagenpraxis haben sich dabei die allgemeinen Richtwerte für Gasausbeuten des Kuratoriums für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft e. V. (KTBL) etabliert, welche auf einer Vielzahl an Einzelmessungen von Batchversuchen unterschiedlicher Labore und zusätzlichen Erfahrungswerten (Expertenwissen) beruhen. Ziel des vorliegenden Leitfadens ist es, die unterschiedlichen Verfahren zur Bestimmung des Methanbildungspotentials einzelner Substrate hinsichtlich ihrer praxisnahen Anwendung und Aussagekraft zu beschreiben. Auf Basis vereinfachter Massen- oder Energiebilanzen können die charakteristischen Kenngrößen der eingesetzten Substrate oder der anfallenden Gärreste dann zur Effizienzbewertung einer Biogasanlage verwendetet werden.

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