Fiscal federalism and foreign transfers: does inter-jurisdictional competition increase foreign aid effectiveness?

This paper empirically studies the impact of decentralization and inter-jurisdictional competition on foreign aid effectiveness. For this purpose we examine a commonly used empirical growth model, considering different measures of fiscal decentralization. Our panel estimations reveal that expenditure decentralization and inter-jurisdictional competition - reflected by the degree of tax revenue decentralization - negatively impact aid effectiveness. We therefore conclude that donor countries should carefully consider how both anti-poverty instruments - foreign assistance and decentralization - work together.