The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on the Budget Revenue Inequality among Municipalities and Growth of Russian

What is the link between the fiscal decentralization, inequality among municipalities within a region, and Russian regions' welfare? Despite the conventional wisdom that fiscal decentralization is beneficial, the author suggests that the poor Russian regions do not always gain from decentralization. The author also suggests that a low initial capital endowment and long-term credit market imperfections could lead to the situation when fiscal decentralization fosters inequality within a region which, in turn, could slow down the overall regional growth. The analysis is conducted using an extensive panel dataset of Russian municipalities