IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/b/ces/ifodrs/76.html
   My bibliography  Save this book

Fiscal Capacity and Determining Structural Characteristics of the Eastern German Laender

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander Eck
  • Carolin Fritzsche
  • Jan Kluge
  • Joachim Ragnitz
  • Felix Rösel

Abstract

East Germany exhibit low tax revenues per capita of only about 50 % of the German average. A study of the Dresden Branch of the Ifo Institute, commissioned by the Saxon State Ministry of Finance and the Thuringian Ministry of Finance, examines the sources of the disproportionately low fiscal capacity of the East German states. The authors show three different channels which cause lower tax revenues in East Germany. These are the deadlock GDP gap to the West German economy, federal tax law (tax progression, childcare allowance) and different rules in the breakdown of total tax revenue and GDP to the states. The authors conclude that the main sources of the disproportionately low fiscal capacity of East Germany cannot be addressed by the state level. This may justify fiscal transfers to East Germany even in future times.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Eck & Carolin Fritzsche & Jan Kluge & Joachim Ragnitz & Felix Rösel, 2015. "Fiscal Capacity and Determining Structural Characteristics of the Eastern German Laender," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 76.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ifodrs:76
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/ifo_Dresden_Studien_76.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clotfelter, Charles T, 1976. "Public Spending for Higher Education: An Empirical Test of Two Hypotheses," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 31(2), pages 177-195.
    2. Gervais, Antoine & Jensen, J. Bradford, 2019. "The tradability of services: Geographic concentration and trade costs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 331-350.
    3. Joachim Ragnitz, 2011. "Auf dem Weg zur Vollbeschäftigung: Implikationen der demographischen Entwicklung für den ostdeutschen Arbeitsmarkt," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 18(02), pages 03-06, April.
    4. Projektgruppe Gemeinschaftsdiagnose, 2014. "Deutsche Konjunktur im Aufschwung – aber Gegenwind von der Wirtschaftspolitik," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(03), pages 27-30, June.
    5. Dorothea Lowe & Wolfgang Nagl, 2011. "Bevölkerungsentwicklung und Wanderungsströme von 1991 bis 2008 für Ostdeutschland und Sachsen," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 18(02), pages 27-31, April.
    6. Alexander Eck & Johannes Steinbrecher & Christian Thater, 2012. "Zukunftsfestigkeit des Gleichmäßigkeitsgrundsatzes II im kommunalen Finanzausgleich des Freistaates Sachsen," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 19(04), pages 22-30, August.
    7. Kraus, Marvin, 1981. "Scale economies analysis for urban highway networks," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, January.
    8. McGreer Edward & McMillan Melville L., 1993. "Public Output Demands from Alternative Congestion Functions," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 95-114, January.
    9. Mankiw, N. Gregory & Weil, David N., 1989. "The baby boom, the baby bust, and the housing market," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 235-258, May.
    10. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Goodman, Robert P, 1973. "Private Demands for Public Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(3), pages 280-296, June.
    11. Börsch-Supan, Axel & Weiss, Matthias, 2016. "Productivity and age: Evidence from work teams at the assembly line," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 30-42.
    12. Harald Uhlig, 2006. "Regional Labor Markets, Network Externalities and Migration: The Case of German Reunification," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 383-387, May.
    13. Barro, Robert J & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(2), pages 223-251, April.
      • Barro, R.J. & Sala-I-Martin, X., 1991. "Convergence," Papers 645, Yale - Economic Growth Center.
      • Barro, Robert J. & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Scholarly Articles 3451299, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    14. Borcherding, Thomas E & Deacon, Robert T, 1972. "The Demand for the Services of Non-Federal Governments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 891-901, December.
    15. Alexander Eck & Joachim Ragnitz & Johannes Steinbrecher & Christian Thater, 2012. "The future appropriateness of the revenue sharing between different groups of municipalities in Saxony," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 67, October.
    16. Christian Thater, 2009. "Auswirkungen des demographischen Wandels auf die kommunalen Ausgaben im Freistaat Sachsen," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 16(05), pages .13-20, October.
    17. Melville L. McMillan & W. Robert Wilson & Louise M. Arthur, 1981. "The Publicness of Local Public Goods: Evidence from Ontario Municipalities," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 14(4), pages 596-608, November.
    18. Michael Berlemann & Julia Freese & Marc-André Luik & Joachim Ragnitz & Jan-Erik Wesselhöft, 2014. "Regionale Wirtschaftsentwicklung in Ostdeutschland und Sachsen bis 2030: Ergebnisse einerProjektionsrechnung," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(05), pages 34-43, October.
    19. Reingewertz, Yaniv, 2012. "Do municipal amalgamations work? Evidence from municipalities in Israel," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 240-251.
    20. Miroudot, Sã‰Bastien & Sauvage, Jehan & Shepherd, Ben, 2013. "Measuring the cost of international trade in services," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 719-735, October.
    21. John H. Y. Edwards, 1986. "A Note on the Publicness of Local Goods: Evidence from New York State Municipalities," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 19(3), pages 568-573, August.
    22. Stegarescu, Dan & Schwager, Robert & Büttner, Thiess, 2004. "Agglomeration, Population Size, and the Cost of Providing Public Services: An Empirical Analysis for German States," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-18, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    23. Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2009. "Age and productivity: evidence from linked employer employee data," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-020, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    24. Michael Kloß & Robert Lehmann, 2013. "Konvergenz neu beurteilt – Welche Auswirkungen hat die neue Wirtschaftszweigklassifikation WZ 2008?," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 20(02), pages 19-28, April.
    25. Reinhold Weiß & Werner Münzenmaier, 2014. "Auswirkungen einer Lohnsteuerzerlegung nach Arbeitsort im Länderfinanzausgleich," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 94(10), pages 732-739, October.
    26. Projektgruppe Gemeinschaftsdiagnose, 2014. "Joint Economic Forecast Spring 2014: Upturn in German Economy, but Economic Policy Creates Headwind," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 67(08), pages 03-64, April.
    27. Bertoni, Marco & Brunello, Giorgio & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2013. "Does Mental Productivity Decline with Age? Evidence from Chess Players," IZA Discussion Papers 7311, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    28. DeBoer, Larry, 1992. "Economies of scale and input substitution in public libraries," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 257-268, September.
    29. Georg Milbradt & Gernot Nerb & Wolfgang Ochel & Hans-Werner Sinn (Hrsg.), 2011. "Der ifo Wirtschaftskompass - Zahlen, Fakten, Hintergründe," Books, by Staff of the ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 2011001.
    30. Bodkin, Ronald G & Conklin, David W, 1971. "Scale and Other Determinants of Municipal Government Expenditures in Ontario: A Quantitative Analysis," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 12(3), pages 465-481, October.
    31. Projektgruppe Gemeinschaftsdiagnose, 2014. "Gemeinschaftsdiagnose Frühjahr 2014: Deutsche Konjunktur im Aufschwung – aber Gegenwind von der Wirtschaftspolitik (Kurzfassung)," Wirtschaft im Wandel, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), vol. 20(2), pages 24-25.
    32. Gramlich, Edward M & Rubinfeld, Daniel L, 1982. "Micro Estimates of Public Spending Demand Functions and Tests of the Tiebout and Median-Voter Hypotheses," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(3), pages 536-560, June.
    33. Hermann Buslei & Erika Schulz & Viktor Steiner, 2007. "Auswirkungen des demographischen Wandels auf die private Nachfrage nach Gütern und Dienstleistungen in Deutschland bis 2050," DIW Berlin: Politikberatung kompakt, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, volume 26, number pbk26, Enero-Abr.
    34. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1991. "Convergence across States and Regions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 107-182.
    35. Seitz, Helmut, 2004. "Implikationen der demographischen Veränderungen für die öffentlichen Haushalte und Verwaltungen," Dresden Discussion Paper Series in Economics 08/04, Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Economics.
    36. Ragnitz, Joachim, 2007. "Explaining the East German productivity gap: the role of human capital," Kiel Working Papers 1310, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    37. Holcombe, Randall G & Sobel, Russell S, 1995. "Empirical Evidence on the Publicness of State Legislative Activities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 83(1-2), pages 47-58, April.
    38. Stefan Arent & Wolfgang Nagl, 2009. "Die Entwicklung der Ansprüche an die gesetzliche Rentenversicherung bis zum Jahr 2020," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 16(02), pages 13-23, April.
    39. Werner W. Pommerehne & Bruno S. Frey, 1976. "Two Approaches To Estimating Public Expenditures," Public Finance Review, , vol. 4(4), pages 395-407, October.
    40. Busl, Claudia & Jokisch, Sabine & Schleer, Frauke, 2012. "Sparen und Investieren vor dem Hintergrund des demografischen Wandels," ZEW Wachstums- und Konjunkturanalysen, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, vol. 15(3), pages 6-7.
    41. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 1993. "An analysis of returns to scale in public production, with an application to fire protection," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 49-72, August.
    42. Rodolfo Gonzalez & Stephen Mehay, 1987. "Municipal annexation and local monopoly power," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 245-255, January.
    43. Christian Thater, 2009. "Auswirkungen des demographischen Wandels auf die kommunalen Ausgaben im Freistaat Sachsen," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 16(05), pages 13-20, October.
    44. Edwards, John H. Y., 1990. "Congestion function specification and the "publicness" of local public goods," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 80-96, January.
    45. Joachim Ragnitz, 2009. "Eastern Germany today: much has been achieved, much remains to be done," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 62(18), pages 03-13, September.
    46. McMillan, Melville L., 1989. "On measuring congestion of local public goods," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 131-137, September.
    47. Blesse, Sebastian & Baskaran, Thushyanthan, 2013. "Do municipal mergers result in scale economies? Evidence from a German federal state," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 176, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    48. Christian Ochsner & Michael Weber, 2014. "Die Kleinteiligkeit der ostdeutschen Wirtschaft – dynamisch betrachtet," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(05), pages 22-33, October.
    49. Robert Breunig & Yvon Rocaboy, 2008. "Per-capita public expenditures and population size: a non-parametric analysis using French data," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 429-445, September.
    50. Holtemöller, Oliver & Irrek, Maike, 2012. "Wachstumsprojektion 2025 für die deutschen Länder: Produktion je Einwohner divergiert," Wirtschaft im Wandel, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), vol. 18(4), pages 132-140.
    51. Karl Brenke, 2014. "Ostdeutschland: ein langer Weg des wirtschaftlichen Aufholens," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 81(40), pages 939-957.
    52. Pommerehne, Werner W., 1978. "Institutional approaches to public expenditure : Empirical evidence from Swiss municipalities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 255-280, April.
    53. Rexford E. Santerre, 1985. "Spatial Differences in the Demands for Local Public Goods," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 62(2), pages 119-128.
    54. Gonzalez, R A & Means, T S & Mehay, S L, 1993. "Empirical Tests of the Samuelsonian Publicness Parameter: Has the Right Hypothesis Been Tested?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 77(3), pages 523-534, November.
    55. Sabine Engelmann & Michaela Fuchs, 2012. "Exportverhalten in West- und Ostdeutschland – Determinanten und Anpassungsprozesse," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 132(4), pages 549-580.
    56. Lehmann, Harald, 2004. "Demographie und Konsumstruktur in Deutschland," Wirtschaft im Wandel, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), vol. 10(16), pages 471-477.
    57. Altemeier, Jens, 1999. "Föderale Finanzbeziehungen unter Anpassungsdruck: Verteilungskonflikte in der Verhandlungsdemokratie," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 38, number 38.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David Bauer & Xenia Frei, 2017. "Der Demographieansatz im kommunalen Finanzausgleich," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 24(01), pages 20-24, February.
    2. Reiner Haseloff & Thomas Lenk & Philipp Glinka & Berthold U. Wigger & Michael Thöne, 2015. "Solidarity Pact for Eastern Germany Comes Under Fire: Should Economic Support for the East Be Withdrawn?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(23), pages 03-14, December.
    3. Xenia Frei & Joachim Ragnitz & Felix Rösel, 2018. "Kosten kommunaler Leistungserstellung unter dem Einfluss von demografischem Wandel und Urbanisierung," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 80.
    4. Kristina van Deuverden & Joachim Ragnitz & Stefan Bach & Stefanie Gäbler & Remo Nitschke, 2023. "Zeitlicher Rahmen für die weitere Rückführung des Solidaritätszuschlags 1995: Endbericht; Forschungsprojekt im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen (fe3/19)," DIW Berlin: Politikberatung kompakt, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, volume 127, number pbk193, Enero-Abr.
    5. David Bauer & Joachim Ragnitz & Christian Ochsner, 2018. "Strategies for the Best Equipment and Use of Funds after 2020," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 82.
    6. Felix Rösel, 2016. "Gibt es Einspareffekte durch Kreisgebietsreformen? – Evidenz aus Ostdeutschland," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 69(22), pages 26-33, November.
    7. Thomas Lenk & Philipp Glinka, 2015. "Federal Fiscal Equalisation – Is the Breakdown Questionable?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(24), pages 13-16, December.
    8. Carolin Fritzsche, 2018. "Analyzing the Efficiency of County Road Provision – Evidence from Eastern German Counties," ifo Working Paper Series 249, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexander Eck & Joachim Ragnitz & Johannes Steinbrecher & Christian Thater, 2012. "The future appropriateness of the revenue sharing between different groups of municipalities in Saxony," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 67, October.
    2. Albert Solé-Ollé & Núria Bosch, 2005. "On the Relationship between Authority Size and the Costs of Providing Local Services: Lessons for the Design of Intergovernmental Transfers in Spain," Public Finance Review, , vol. 33(3), pages 343-384, May.
    3. Carolin Fritzsche, 2018. "Analyzing the Efficiency of County Road Provision – Evidence from Eastern German Counties," ifo Working Paper Series 249, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    4. Takeshi Miyazaki, 2021. "Economies of Scope and Local Government Expenditure: Evidence from Creation of Specially Authorized Cities in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, March.
    5. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Is the Median Voter Decisive? Evidence of 'Ends Against the Middle' From Referenda Voting Patterns," Working papers 2009-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised May 2010.
    6. Johanna Choumert & Laure Cormier, 2011. "The provision of urban parks: an empirical test of spatial spillovers in an urban area using geographic information systems," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 47(2), pages 437-450, October.
    7. World Bank, 2013. "Service Delivery with More Districts in Uganda : Fiscal Challenges and Opportunities for Reforms," World Bank Publications - Reports 16012, The World Bank Group.
    8. Craig, Steven G. & Holsey, Cheryl M., 1997. "Efficient inequality: differential allocation in the local public sector," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 763-784, November.
    9. N. Vasudeva Murthy, 1987. "Bureaucracy and the divisibility of local public output: Further econometric evidence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 265-272, October.
    10. Reingewertz, Yaniv, 2014. "Fiscal Decentralization - a Survey of the Empirical Literature," MPRA Paper 59889, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Rodney Fort, 1988. "The median voter, setters, and non-repeated construction bond issues," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 213-231, March.
    12. Tidiane Ly, 2018. "Sub-metropolitan tax competition with household and capital mobility," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(5), pages 1129-1169, October.
    13. Oates, Wallace E., 2005. "Property taxation and local public spending: the renter effect," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 419-431, May.
    14. Rodolfo Gonzalez & Stephen Mehay, 1985. "Bureaucracy and the divisibility of local public output," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 89-101, January.
    15. Christian Thater, 2009. "Auswirkungen des demographischen Wandels auf die kommunalen Ausgaben im Freistaat Sachsen," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 16(05), pages .13-20, October.
    16. Benoît Le Maux, 2009. "Governmental behavior in representative democracy: a synthesis of the theoretical literature," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 447-465, December.
    17. Robert P. Inman & Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 1997. "Rethinking Federalism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 43-64, Fall.
    18. Masayoshi Hayashi, 2012. "Congestion, Technical Returns, and the Minimum Efficient Scales of Local Public Expenditures: An Empirical Analysis for Japanese Cities," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-852, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    19. Takeshi Miyazaki, 2018. "Internalization of externalities and local government consolidation: empirical evidence from Japan," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 1061-1086, May.
    20. Rhee, Se-Koo, 1996. "The impact of intergovernmental grants-in-aid on public school expenditure under the segregated school system," ISU General Staff Papers 1996010108000012396, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ces:ifodrs:76. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifooode.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.