As part of a process of democratization, many countries spanning Europe, Latin Amertica, Africa, and Asia are reorganizing their governments by devolving fiscal responsibility and authority to newly empowered regional and local governments. Although decentralization in each country proceeds...

The 17 regional governments of Spain receive grants from both the central government and the European Union. The grants are generally redistributive and are intended to stimulate economic activity in the poorer regions. We evaluate the effectiveness of the grants by comparing the economic...

It is difficult to justify tax incentives within the existing economics literature on tax competition. We develop a model in which communities are interested in attracting firms not only for their own capital but also for the "concentration externalities," a form of agglomeration economies,...

Illinois' public pensions are among the worst funded in the nation. We present evidence that the main reason for Illinois' underfunding is a history of making inadequate contributions, dating back to the origins of the state's pensions. We discuss the recent history and legal status of pension...

Provides some preliminary systematic evidence on state spending and presents an abundance of descriptive statistics on spending and on the demographic and economic characteristics of the states.

Uses national aggregate time series data to estimate the trend rate of growth and the deviation from trend for several components of state general sales and individual income tax bases. The results indicate great variety in growth and variability characteristics across tax base components.

In 1991, a property tax limitation measure was imposed in five Illinois counties. Dye and McGuire (1997) studied its short–term impact. With the limit now in effect for over a decade and extended to many more counties, we assess its long–term impact. Because jurisdictions brought under the...