The demographic database of Eurostat and of Us Census of Bureau are explored and the main facts are extracted and described. This paper is completely self-standing but is also part of a more general analysis dedicated to the functioning and sustainability of pay-as-you-go to finance the welfare...

We investigate the empirical relationship between decentralisation and corruption. Using a newly assembled dataset containing data for up to 174 countries, we revisit the empirical evidence and seek to explain some of the inconsistent results that exist in the literature. We find that not only...

The paper outlines the main current issues concerning Public Finance in Italy. It is divided in three parts. The first part discusses the overall budget policy. Italy is in need to support the recovery from economic crisis, however budget action is limited by European constraints. Different way...

We use the same methodology, that Ecofin-Oecd apply for projecting expenditure in the medium-long term, to reconstruct expenditure in the medium-long past. It is possible to compare the effective expenditure with the reconstructed one. The effective expenditure is of course influenced by policy...

This paper empirically examines the causality between crime rates and economic growth using state level data in India. A reduced form equation has been estimated using instrumental variable approach to correct for joint endogeneity between crime and economic growth. Higher crimes may reduce...

Recent attempts of "regionalizing" the VAT, in order to expand fiscal autonomy margins attributed to Regions and to involve them in the hard struggle against tax evasion, strongly urge some considerations on some of the changes introduced in the Italian legal system by the 2001 constitutional...

The issue of standard costs is the subject of the bill Calderoli (A.C. n. 2105), which must be implemented by the article 119 of the Italian Constitution. It should be noted, in this regard, that in economic theory have been proposed several formulations of the concept of standard cost, which...

In relation to the finances of Regions – particularly, to the determination of “fundamental expenses” referable to the constraint specified in the letter m), 2nd paragraph, of the article 117 of Italian Constitution – in the Delegation Act on Fiscal Federalism (Law n. 42 of 5 May 2009),...

The issues of patients’ interregional mobility and «health fashions» are, somehow, exemplary cases: they show that it is not possible tackling correctly financial issues (such as the financing of local public services or their standard cost) provided by the Enabling Act on Fiscal Federalism...

According to the Nigerian constitution, main public sector responsibilities are split across various government levels. Thus, no sole government could deliver radical improvements in service delivery on its own, which means that coordination and cooperation are pre-requisites. However, the...