This Paper conducts on a simulation to estimate the administrative investment necessary for maintaining and updating the infrastructure of present-day Japanese Prefectures. The field of the analyzed infrastructure is four fields (the road, water service, drainage, and the trash disposal...

This paper focuses on ihe rationale behind fiscal solidarity. It is argued that, while at the national level the main aim of regional policies is to downsize the cost of labor market policies, the motivation behind EU transfers is less straightforward. Here, regional assistance should rather be...

This article discusses the reduction in the tax burden resulting from the Dutch tax reform that was implemented in 2001. The consumption growth lagged behind the substantial increase in purchasing power. This 'consumption puzzle' is put in the perspective of the relatively high consumption...