Although the presence of objective formula-based grants is an important component of a stable, equitable and efficient system of intergovernmental fiscal relations, the final incidence of grants is not always according to what is stated in the formula because there are other intervening...

While there is extensive knowledge about how to design fiscal decentralization policies, considerably less is understood about how a decentralization program should be sequenced and implemented. Countries embarking on decentralization often struggle with decisions about the essential components...

Economists have devoted relatively little attention to explaining why some state and local governments choose more progressive fiscal instruments than others. This paper provides an empirical model to identify the determinants of income redistribution as a budgetary choice, and estimates the...

While there is extensive knowledge about how to design fiscal decentralization policies, considerably less is understood about how a decentralization program should be sequenced and implemented. Countries embarking on decentralization often struggle with decisions about the essential components...

Because of history, size and economic potential China is a force to reckon with: 9.6 million square kilometers populated by 1.26 billion people. China has a varied geography. Moving from west to east, Figure 1, we start with the vast dry areas in the west, move to the mountains, valleys and...

Due to the deteriorating fiscal situation of the states, the Government of India has taken several initiatives, including the creation of a Fiscal Reform Facility, which sought to provide financial-grant incentives to the states, in order to encourage a movement toward budget balance over the...

India is a Union of 28 States, two Union Territories with legislatures, and five Union Territories without legislatures. The 7th Schedule of India’s Constitution provides for a separate State List, which enumerates exclusive legislative and executive authority that lies with state governments....