We provide a model that explains the following empirical observations: (i) private ownership is more efficient than public ownership, (ii) privatizations are associated with increases in efficiency, and (iii) the increase in efficiency predates the privatization. The two key mechanisms...

This paper concerns income- and production taxation in a decentralized fiscal federalism model where the ability to commit differs among member countries. It is assumed that the federal government dictates environmental targets to be implemented at the national level, where the horizontal leader...