I formulate a political-economy model of a fiscal union where the threat of secession imposes a limit on fiscal redistribution between regions. I argue that the trade-off between implementing the region's preferred fiscal policy and benefiting from inter-regional risk sharing depends on the...

Mundell (1973) argues that a common currency area provides benefits for its members by offering insurance against region-specific shocks. We develop a simple model to analyse the nature of risksharing benefits of a single currency area for emerging market economies, based on Mundell's...

Societies provide institutions that are costly to use, but able to enforce long-run relationships. We study the optimal decision problem of using self-governance for risk sharing or governance through enforcement provided by these institutions. Third-party enforcement is modelled as a costly...