This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are...

Why is competition between institutions usually viewed in a negative light, when competition is considered positive in most other economic contexts? The contributors to this volume introduce new perspectives on this issue, analytically and empirically exploring reasons for this perception

In this book, Robert Boyer follows the origins, course and collapse of the "new economy" and proposes a new interpretation of US dynamism during the 1990s. He argues that the diffusion of information and communication technologies is only part of a story that also requires understanding of the...

This book examines the interrelations between entrepreneurship, industrial location and economic growth. Thus, it covers a wide range of topics, including: the economic impact of entrepreneurship; industry dynamics; growth and survival of firms; firm location and globalisation patterns; and...

This book discusses the impact of taxation on economic growth, employment, investment, consumption and the environment. The public finance literature commonly distinguishes between three major functions of taxation: the traditional function of raising revenue to finance government expenditure;...

Examining the taxation and regulation of banks, this book highlights the views of practitioners, tax experts, policy makers and academics on the appropriateness and effectiveness of bank taxation in the light of the financial crisis. It covers the topical issues of whether the EU should...

This critical and thought-provoking book explores the causes and consequences of Europe's failed political and economic institutions. Europe's recession has created new challenges as market turmoil has shaken the foundations of the twin pillars of the new drive for European...

The eminent contributors (including Altshuler, Creedy, Freebairn, Gravelle, Heady, Kalb, Sørensen and Zodrow) investigate the beneficial directions for medium-term tax reform in the light of global developments and lessons from the latest taxation research. In addressing this issue, they review...

In most industrialized countries the tax burden of poor people has increased dramatically over the last few decades. This book analyses both the political origins of this increase and its consequences for the labour market

This book, written by an international team of economists, develops concrete, country specific alternatives to inflation targeting, the dominant policy framework of central bank policy that focuses on keeping inflation in the low single digits to the virtual exclusion of other key goals such as...