What is a fair and/or efficient way to tax couples? Jointly on the income of both the partners? Or individually? How does this decision change when we account for the value of household goods and services that are produced and consumed within the household, like childcare?

Does the Internet and social media enable more communication and organisation between citizens than authoritarian regimes can bear? Or do they merely lead to new forms of censorship? In a new episode of the Max Planck Economics Podcast, Galina Zudenkova, Professor of Economics at the Technical University of Dortmund, talks about her latest research on the interactions between technological change, political protest and censorship by authoritarian regimes.

Bonus secured, motivation gone? In the new Max Planck Economics Podcast we learn that bonus payments can motivate teams to solve cognitively challenging tasks and – contrary to popular claim – do not crowd-out intrinsic motivation. However, monetary incentives can reduce less self-motivated team’s willingness to find “original” solutions. Team performance is also positively influenced by team leadership. However, it’s less important whether this leadership is aimed at coordination or... More information

Instead of wasting their money on traffickers, immigrants should be able to buy migration certificates from host countries. Seats in parliament should be assigned randomly, to make sure that the population is represented properly. In a new episode of the Max Planck Economics Podcast, renowned Swiss economist Bruno Frey explains why we should destroy outdated economic ideas and make room for new, unconventional ones.

In the second episode of our Economics Podcast we talk to Professor Jyotsna Jalan from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Calcutta, India. We discuss whether and how participatory theatre in rural India influences the behaviour and attitudes towards domestic violence and gender norms.

We are pleased to announce the Max Planck Economics Podcast, a series of in-depth conversations with selected guests of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.