This paper provides a detailed description of fiscal federal relations in Australian. The keystone to those relationships is the application by the Commonwealth Grants Commission of the principle of fiscal equalisation - that each State should be able to provide the same standard of services to...

A nation’s fiscal transfer system has many facets. Usually, the central government has several objectives in transferring funds to local government . Individual local governments often have objectives that conflict with the central government and with other one another. This paper looks at the...

This paper examines a typology of grants that are used across the world, and places these in the context of the overall constitutional and legal framework for a country. It looks at the options for grants, given the need to maintain overall macroeconomic stability, efficiency in the use of...

The operation of the horizontal fiscal equalisation (HFE) system between the Australian States has had an impact on service delivery. It redistributes funds among State governments to give each of them the same capacity to provide services. However, service standards are not the same across...

Intergovernmental equalization grants have been described as “the glue that holds a nation together.” Getting the grants system right is critical to countries as they decentralize. This paper illustrates general principles with an example based on Indonesia in 2000. A general grant should be...

This Paper examines how best to integrate the assessment of recipient governments' relative needs for the funding of capital into an overall assessment of needs for grant distribution aimed at the equalisation of fiscal capacities. It is based on the assessment processes of the Commonwealth...

This Paper looks at the processes of trying to decentralize government since the wars stopped, and points to significant differences in the results thus far. It asks why the differences exist and what lessons can be learnt by the International community on how best to assist nations wishing to...

This major Handbook addresses fiscal relations between different levels of government under the general rubric of ‘fiscal federalism’, providing a review of the latest literature as well as an invaluable guide for practitioners and policy makers seeking informed policy options. The...

Although oil windfalls have opened a window of opportunity for the Gulf States, at the same time they have created numerous problems. In particular, the uncertainty associated with periods of boom and bust in the oil market has made the formulation and implementation of sound fiscal policies a...

This insightful study examines the decentralization experiences from 15 countries in different regions of the world. All of these countries have actively attempted to decentralize, or continue to do so, and have faced obstacles serious enough to either derail or significantly delay their...