Deutschland als Weltmeister der Steuerliteratur? Fallstudie einer Legende

Abstract

AbstractThis paper analyzes the production of tax literature in Germany empirically. It provides evidence to reject the argument made by politicians and the media that Germany produces three quarters of the global tax literature. It also finds that regarding the length of the tax code and the actual costs of declaring taxes, Germany is middle of the class globally. Using a case study, the paper analyzes the motives of authors of tax literature. The evidence shows that most publications are not motivated by generating knowledge, but by self-marketing, lobbying, and personal satisfaction. Overall, publications on a specific topic follow a pattern of decreasing (rather than increasing) quality over time. These repeated publications without generation of incremental knowledge are due to the organization of the market for publications in Germany, but unrelated to features of the tax system.