We study how partisan alignment across levels of government affects coalition formation and government stability using a regression discontinuity design and a large dataset of Spanish municipal elections. We document a positive effect of alignment on both government formation and stability....

We study how partisan alignment across levels of government affects coalition formation and government stability using a regression discontinuity design and a large dataset of Spanish municipal elections. We document a positive effect of alignment on both government formation and stability....

In many African countries, decentralization has long been viewed as a means for improving local service delivery. Yet, despite various decentralization initiatives, poor service delivery continues to be problematic in two of Kenya.s largest cities, Nairob

This paper surveys the system of sub-national own revenues and the inter- governmental transfer system (including the sharing of oil revenues) in Brazil, highlighting their critical flaws. The latter include heavy reliance on a mixed- origin/destination-based value-added tax and many...

This paper criticizes the idea to conceive the fiscal federalist reform in Italy as a tool to empower central-northern regions to retain resources otherwise wasted in the South. We argue that such a view muddles up efficiency and redistribution issues, thus threatening the legitimate...