This paper builds on a comprehensive dataset for Peru that merges municipal fiscal accounts with information about municipalities’ characteristics such as population, poverty, education and local politics to analyze the leading factors affecting the ability of municipalities to execute the...

A radical reform improved the government of towns and cities in Italy at the start of the 1990’s. Mayors were elected by citizens; they appointed their own executives and received «guides and checks» from Councils. That model had nevertheless already started to worsen at the end of the...

El estudio explora de manera cuantitativa la relación entre la persistente desigualdad y pobreza, y la corrupción en el Estado, empleando como eje de análisis el uso de servicios públicos. Las evidencias encontradas indican la necesidad de diagnosticar detalladamente las fuentes de...

This study explores the impact of ownership types on efficiency of Italian water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, a recent study argues that this relationship can be further complicated by the effect of...

Decentralization since early 1990s has become one of the buzzwords of the development paradigms. Among all ingredients of decentralization, the fiscal component of it has a special significance. Not surprisingly the literature unanimously recognizes that it is the regulation of intergovernmental...

Chanchal Kumar Sharma,in his paper demonstrates that in order for fiscal decentralisation to be effective, it must be approached federally. A federal approach is not a decentralised approach but a dynamically balanced approach; one that constantly keeps on adjusting the contrasting forces of...

Though decentralization for past one and half decade or so has become the most favoured policy priority among the policy makers yet the countries around the world differ dramatically in the degree of decentralization that is accommodated. While diversity in degree of decentralization across the...

Most countries especially the developing ones around the world are facing external as well as internal pressures to decentralize and are actually becoming part of the trend which if not universal is nonetheless the dominant trend. General causes include systemic forces like democratization and...

How do we know whether a country suffers from vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI)? What should be done about it? Academic appreciation of these issues in general, and the nature of political behaviour in particular, both have major implications for the way federations are fiscally structured. While...