The success of economic reforms in China is often attributed to favourable starting conditions. Yet structural characteristics and the effects of fiscal decentralisation differ significantly between the prosperous coast and the laggard interior. We argue that the process of income convergence...

This paper addresses arguments that a system of fiscal insurance between member states of the European Union is needed to act in replacement of nominal exchange rate flexibility as an automatic stabilizer under monetary union. Many authors have argued or assumed that asymmetric real...