increases regulatory uncertainty regarding the bureaucratic and fiscal burdens on firms. Moreover, quests for independence … create political uncertainty. To evaluate economic costs and benefits for firms from decentralization or independence, we … analyze the Catalan-Spanish negotiation leading to the 2006 Catalan Statute and the more recent quest for independence. We use …

history of honesty and a high level of central bank independence. According to our respondents, the Federal Reserve is the …