Launched in 1994, the Massachusetts Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) is a state and local partnership designed to relieve unemployment, redevelop blighted commercial districts and promote economic growth by providing tax incentives for businesses relocating or expanding in...

The UK Government places ever-greater weight on performance assessment of local public bodies through comprehensive performance assessments (CPA). However, the CPA assessment framework has been criticised for its disregard of local factors that are beyond the control of local authorities but...

This paper reviews the fiscal relations between the three levels of government in Austria and points to the scope for reforming them with a view to improving the efficiency of the public sector. Key areas of public sector activity are subject to complex relations across the three layers of...

Finland is committed to high quality and extensive public services and a high level of income redistribution. The heavy tax burden these commitments require is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain due to tax competition and the need to harmonise certain taxes with other EU countries. These...

Over the past decade, Portugal has experienced imbalances and inefficiencies in the public sector that have impeded better economic performance. Though Portugal’s total spending as a proportion of GDP is somewhat below the EU average, the rapid and uncontrolled growth of its primary current...

Several of the transition economies are devolving fiscal authority to subnational governments at a time when it is also important to consolidate fiscal policy. This can be problematic because, without appropriate care, the central government's ability to determine the level and structure of...

The Intergovernmental Conference offers a historic opportunity to rethink and improve the governance and organization of the European Union. At stake is Europe’s political architecture: the form that government takes and the allo-cation of responsibilities between member states and...

We re-examine the tax-spending nexus using, for the first time, a panel of fifty US state-local government units over the period 1963-97 and panel techniques that allow for cross-sectional dependence. We find that, unlike tax revenues, expenditures adjust to revert back to a long-term...