Showing 1 - 10 of 101
We provide empirical estimates of the risksharing and redistributive properties of fiscal equalization among the states of the German federation. Fiscal equalization serves as a mechanism to insure state budgets against asymmetric revenue shocks, but provides almost no insurance against regional...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005791883
The loss of the exchange rate as an independent policy instrument implied by EMU has spurred calls for an insurance scheme as a buffer against temporary, asymmetric shocks to national income. We study the potential properties of such a system using historical data from the 12 EC economies. An...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005661673
Avocates of formal fiscal restraints on the member states of the European Monetary Union often argue that US experience proves that a monetary union needs such constraints to guarantee the stability of the common currency. We show, first, that the origin of formal fiscal restraints on US state...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005114166
The paper studies the political and economic determinants of inter-regional public transfers. It points to an important difference between two alternative federal fiscal constitutions. The paper shows that inter-regional transfers can be determined either by a federation-wide vote over a...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005504413
Governments do not have perfect information regarding the priorities and the needs of different groups in the economy. This lack of knowledge opens the door for different groups to lobby the government in order to receive the government’s support. We set up a model of hierarchical contests and...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005497910
This paper produces estimates of regional redistribution and stabilization through the central government budget in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. The estimates rest on panel data econometrics and an adherence to certain accounting principles that have occasionally...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005497977
We examine proposals to introduce in the European Community national insurance against unevenly distributed shocks. This would operate differently from tax and government spending activities that now yield regional insurance within countries, since the latter are mainly designed for other...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005498081
This paper provides a simple political agency model to explain the effect of political alignment between different tiers of government on intergovernmental grants and election outcomes. Key features of the model are: (i) rational voters interpret public good provision as a signal of incumbent...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011165654
We study the subnational fiscal adjustment to the Great Recession in a sample of European countries. We find that there are important differences between unitary and federal countries. Subnational governments in federal states reacted to the Great Recession by running larger budget deficits...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011083379
Most cities enjoy some autonomy over how they tax their residents, and that autonomy is typically exercised by multiple municipal governments within a given city. In this chapter, we document patterns of city-level taxation across countries, and we review the literature on a number of salient...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011083800