Does regional decentralization threaten the commitment to regional equality in government outcomes? We attempt to shed light on this question by drawing on unique evidence from the largest European unitary states to have engaged in countrywide health system decentralization: Italy and Spain. We...

China's fast growth has been accompanied by rising regional inequality, triggering debate over a policy trade-off between aggregate growth and equity. We set out a three-region model of China in which local government behavior affects local TFP dynamics, and regional inequality itself generates...

The People's Republic of China's (PRC) fiscal system is characterized by very high expenditure decentralization and heavy reliance on transfers to finance public services. The government's embrace of inclusiveness and equalization as national goals has raised questions about whether transfers...