In pre-industrial Europe, the pace of economic development and growth varied across territories and over time. Much of this variation was due to the changing impact of government on the economies in question. Government affected the economy principally through its command of violence. We...

Consecutive years of primary deficits have led to mounting public debt of almost 50% of GDP, one of the fastest increases in Latin America over the last decade. Government attempts to restore fiscal health have been undermined by a gridlocked Congress. While only minor reforms have been enacted...

The theoretical literature on the economics of fiscal federalism has identified several potential effects of government decentralization on economic growth. Much of the traditional literature focuses on the efficiency aspects of a decentralized provision of public services. However,...

This study discusses the impact of fiscal decentralisation on economic growth to have an indepth analysis of different policies that are in practice for decentralisation. This study makes it obvious that mere decentralisation is not enough; the equally important matter is how to decentralise? In...

The theoretical literature on the economics of fiscal federalism has identified several potential effects of government decentralization on economic growth. Much of the traditional literature focuses on the efficiency aspects of a decentralized provision of public services. However,...

It is widely accepted that good institutions caused the massive increase in living standards enjoyed by ordinary people over the past two hundred years. But what caused good institutions? Scholars once pointed to the polycentric governance structures of medieval Europe, but this explanation has...

We examine the question of how competition between governments within metropolitan areas affects economic growth outcomes. Using data on metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States, we find that the number of county governments is significantly and positively correlated with the...

In this paper, we attempt to answer two questions. What role does a mayor's promotion incentive play in China's regional economic growth? How do mayors behave when faced with promotion pressure? In doing so, we argue that significant GDP manipulation could partially reduce the explanatory power...

In recent years, a lot of rules concerning government expenditures as well as tax revenues were changed in Germany. Government expenditures in relation to GDP were reduced, income tax rates were lowered and the budget deficit declined. The structure of government expenditures changed in favor of...

In the nineties, the German economy grew about half a percentage point less than the rest of the European Monetary Union (EMU). The paper deals with differences in fiscal policy as a potential reason for this. At least a part of the “growth gap” between Germany and the rest of the EMU can be...