Bereits 2015 wurde erstmalig durch die Konferenz der Ministerpräsident:innen ein neues Finanzausgleichssystem ab 2020 diskutiert und beschlossen. Seitdem sind zahlreiche Beiträge zu den möglichen fiskalischen Auswirkungen, Anreizproblematiken und Bewertungen einiger Detailregelungen...

Can formula-based transfers effectively limit favoritism and political patronage in public funds allocations? Formula-based transfers that tie the allocation of public funds to local development indicators are often seen as one effective measure to reduce special-interest politics, although the...

We study the fiscal and tax response to intergovernmental grants, exploiting quasi-experimental variation within Germany’s fiscal equalization scheme triggered by Census revisions of official population counts. Municipal budgets do not adjust instantly. Instead, spending and investments adapt...

We develop a model with optimal shares of intergovernmental transfers, and we apply a simulation analysis of our model for the case of Mexico. The main outcomes of this paper are as follows: First, we provide optimal shares of intergovernmental funds to be allocated in each state considering the...

Many important questions in the field of public finance can be viewed as problems involving public policies in open economies. This paper draws together, from that perspective, a wide range of topics in public economics, emphasizing the implications of resource mobility for our understanding of...

This article examines fiscal illusions inpublic finance systems where decentralisation involving the introduction of an independent and autonomous component oflocal government funding brings new problems. It presents a synthesis ofthe findings from a Polish empirical study that set out to...

Based on the fiscal regime that prevailed in Argentina from 1988 to 2003, we estimate the effects that changes in intergovernmental transfers and hydrocarbon royalties had on provincial public consumption and debt. From a one-peso increase in intergovernmental transfers, all provinces spent 76...

Bereits 2015 wurde erstmalig durch die Konferenz der Ministerpräsident:innen ein neues Finanzausgleichssystem ab 2020 diskutiert und beschlossen. Seitdem sind zahlreiche Beiträge zu den möglichen fiskalischen Auswirkungen, Anreizproblematiken und Bewertungen einiger Detailregelungen...

Using panel data models, we analyze the flypaper effects-whether intergovernmental fiscal transfers or states' own income determine expenditure commitments - on ecological fiscal spending in India. The econometric results show that the unconditional fiscal transfers, rather than the states' own...

This study analyses the extent of fiscal risk sharing and redistribution for Austria from 2000 to 2019. Overall, fiscal policy smooths about one tenth of regional GDP shocks. While this is primarily driven by the federal budget and social security funds, there is also a significant contribution...

Fiscal transfer development across the world today has been in part driven by assertions of a supposed ‘economic dividend’ linked with the devolved financial spending. There is, however, little empirical evidence to validate these assertions in Kenya. It is against this background that this...

We study the impact of fiscal revenue shocks on local fiscal policy. We focus on the very volatile revenues from the immovable property gains tax in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, and analyze fiscal behavior following large and rare positive and negative revenue shocks. We apply causal...

The traditional normative literature on fiscal federalism argues that redistributive policies should be centralized in order to avoid welfare- or tax-induced migration. However, recent evidence shows that even in a setup where the progressivity of the income tax schedule is centralized to an...

The link between federalism and economic performance is still ambiguous. Aiming at clarification, we improve on a widespread shortcoming by measuring federalism not just by one variable but by various institutions that constitute it. To this end, Switzerland provides for a laboratory as its 26...

We study the fiscal and tax response to intergovernmental grants, exploiting quasi-experimental variation within Germany's fiscal equalization scheme triggered by Census revisions of official population counts. Municipal budgets do not adjust instantly. Instead, spending and investments adapt...

Public investment spending declined steadily in advanced economies during the last three decades. Germany is a case in point where the aggregate decline coincided with growing inequality in investments across districts. What explains variation in local investment spending? We assembled a novel...

What kept the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from becoming a reality in India for a quarter of a century after the adoption of the structural adjustment programme in 1991? What made it possible in 2016? To what extent the Indian model of GST reflects a compromise between the need to keep fiscal...

Can formula-based transfers effectively limit favoritism and political patronage in public funds allocations? Formula-based transfers that tie the allocation of public funds to local development indicators are often seen as one effective measure to reduce special-interest politics, although the...

This paper studies the equilibrium effects of local fiscal autonomy accounting for benefits from self-determination. It proposes a quantifiable structural equilibrium framework in which imperfectly mobile heterogeneous households sort themselves across jurisdictions under endogenous public good...

[Einführung] Der kommunale Finanzausgleich ist ein vertikaler Ausgleich mit horizontalem Effekt. Die originären Steuerquellen der Gemeinden reichen nicht aus, um ihre Ausgaben zu finanzieren. Der Finanzausgleich dient zunächst einmal dazu, die Finanzkraft der kommunalen Ebene insgesamt so...

The Supreme Court (SC) ruled with finality in April 10, 2019 on the motions for reconsideration of its initial decision promulgated in July 3, 2018 on the petitions filed by separately by Mandanas et al. and Garcia regarding what petitioners perceived to be errors in the computation of the...

This paper embeds analysis of fiscal redistribution (FR) within the standard social welfare framework. Differences in FR are decomposed into differences in the magnitude (fiscal effort) and progressivity (fiscal progressivity) of transfers. Progressivity is further decomposed into differences in...

We analyze the political economy of monetary unification among countries with different quality of institutions. Countries with stronger institutions have lower public spending and better investment incentives, even under a stronger currency. Governments under weaker institutions spend more so...

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat in der Vergangenheit Urteile zum föderalen Finanzausgleich in Deutschland gefällt. Eine wichtige Frage war, welche Steuern Teil der Umverteilung im föderalen Finanzausgleich sein sollten. Das Gericht hat Kriterien entwickelt, anhand derer eine Entscheidung...

Are public grant allocations biased toward the birth districts of governors, and if so, what explains this favoritism? The allocation of budget authority to local government officials is a common trend around the developing world but is often criticized for transferring favoritism from the...