Fiscal Aspects of Evolving Federations

This collection of essays on the economics of fiscal federalism contains original research by leading experts in North America and Europe. Reform of fiscal relations between central and subnational governments is an urgent priority in many countries since increased economic integration within and among countries means that goods, services, capital, and human resources can flow across political boundaries more easily than before. Theoretical and applied contributions present conceptual insights, as well as discussions of practical policy questions in countries such as Australia, France, South Africa and the US, the European Union, and transition economies. The structure of intergovernmental transfers, tax competition, and the fiscal implications of labor migration are analyzed for audiences in economics, political science, and public policy. Several of the essays were published in a different form in a special issue of International Tax and Public Finance.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Contributors; Part I. Introduction: 1. Introduction David E. Wildasin; 2. Fiscal aspects of evolving federations: issues for policy and research David E. Wildasin; Part II. Theoretical Issues: 3. Efficiency and the optimal direction of federal-state transfers Robin Boadway and Michael Keen; 4. Interregional redistribution through tax surcharge Helmuth Cremer, Maurice Marchand and Pierre Pestieau; 5. Decentralized public decision making: the moral hazard problem Claude d'Aspremont and Louis-André Gérard-Varet; 6. Migration and income transfers in the presence of labor quality externalities Harry Huizinga; 7. Strategic provision of local public inputs for oligopolitistic firms in the presence of endogenous location choice Uwe Walz and Dietmar Wellisch; Part III. Policy and Practice: 8. The structure of urban governance in South African cities Junaid Ahmad; 9. Computable general equilibrium in local public finance and fiscal federalism: applications to local taxation, intergovernmental aide, and education vouchers Thomas Nechyba; 10. 'One people one destiny': centralization and conflicts of interest in Australian federalism Jeffrey D. Petchey and Perry Shapiro; Index.

Review :
"Problems of fiscal decentralization and federal finance are currently of interest in many parts of the world. Often, the established economic theory of fiscal federalism is of only limited use in understanding and analyzing these problems. Fortunately for both policy-makers and analysts, the papers David Wildasin has collected in this useful volume not only illustrate the wide variety of institutional settings found in the real world but also provide a promising beginning to the extension of formal modelling needed both to accommdate this variety and to encompass such important factors a informational asymmetry and factor migration." Richard M. Bird, University of Toronto "In Europe, Africa, China, Russia, South America, and North America, new models of federalism are being intoduced for financing and providing public services. The insightful essays in Fiscal Aspects of Evolving Federations, each authored by a leading public finance scholar or practitioner, offer fresh looks at how these new federal hierarchies might best be structured. Particularly attractive is the balance of theory and practice. The more theoretical chapters address important real world questions; the more applied chapters draw on sophisticated economic applied chapters draw on sophisticated economic reasoning. The book is an important contribution to the federalism literature." Robert P. Inman, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and NBER "This is an exciting and impressive collection for new research on fiscal federalism that addresses both thoery and practice and draws on scholars and fiscal systems around the globe. The papers provide a number of new and illuminating insights into structure and functioning of federla finance." Wallace Oates, University of Maryland "We are living in an era characterized by interplay of centrifugal forces contributing to disintegration of existing federations and centripetal forces which induce the formation of new ones. This excellent volume is devoted to the role of the fiscal decentralization on the formation and visibility of federations. The collections of essays, written by leading experts in North America and Europe, provides a superb birds-eye view of important problems of fiscal federalism in several countries and regions, as well as a through theoretical and applied analysis of these issues which arise in various forms of federations. This volume is certainly an indispensable tool for students of fiscal federalism and for practitioners involved in national--subnational relationship within a federation." David Pines, Tel-Aviv University