This paper uses a large dataset combining census, household survey and budgetary data for nearly 4.000 Brazilian municipalities to estimate the impact of government spending on education and health outcomes. We deal with the multi-dimensional nature of the population’s social status by...

Income inequality in Colombia has declined since the early 2000s but remains very high by international standards. While most of the inequality originates from the labour market, wealth – and thus capital income – is also highly concentrated and the tax and transfer system has little...

While the German federal fiscal system has been successful in promoting a high standard of living even in regions whose economic capacity is low, tensions have emerged. <I>Firstly</I>, it has been difficult to ensure a sustainable fiscal policy, and the size of the overall deficit makes it difficult...</i>

Indonesia has made considerable progress over the years in improving the social conditions of its population, especially among disadvantaged groups, not least by raising government spending and strengthening social protection programmes. Nevertheless, in some respects social outcomes remain...

Australia’s inter-governmental fiscal relations have gradually moved towards greater centralisation. State governments receive sizeable transfers from the federal government and own revenues only partially cover their expenses. Finding the right balance between federal control and state...