This empirical study takes advantage of a new intergovernmental grant in order to investigate the expenditure behavior of the municipalities in Sweden in two ways. First, the grant is used to study the effect on municipal spending related to the grant. Second, the grant is used to test a...

The thesis consists of an introductory part and three self-contained papers. <p> Paper [I] studies the determinants of the differences in expenditure on services for functionally impaired individuals among municipalities in Sweden. A spatial autoregressive model is used in order to test whether the...</p>

The aim of the present paper it is to analyse the volume and the distribution of the financial resources that form the FEDER funds in the European Union. These funds have got a main purpose in relation with reduction of the structural development differences among the states members. To attain...

Gray D. (2005) An examination of regional interaction and super-regions in Britain: an error correction model approach, Regional Studies 39 , 619-632. This paper examines spill-over effects among regions. Estimating error correction models of British rates of unemployment and conducting...

While many studies have documented deviations from the Law of One Price in international settings, evidence is scarce on the extent to which consumers take advantage of price differentials and engage in cross border shopping. We use data from 287 Swedish municipalities to estimate how responsive...

Within the framework of spatial tax competition with cross-border shopping, we examine the choice of tax method between ad valorem tax and unit (specific) tax. This study shows that governments endogenously choose the ad valorem tax method not because of a classic welfare reason, but because it...

Using the example of geographic borders, I demonstrate how the permeability of lines in the tax system and the ability of the tax authority to reduce tax evasion across lines are essential determinants of the optimal commodity tax policy.

In the context of China without a median voter system, this study examines whether the “flypaper effect”, an unconditional lump-sum grant from the upper governments to the county governments increases spending in a greater proportion than an equivalent rise in local income, holds true in...

This paper discusses how electoral politics shapes the regional allocation of public investment expenditures per capita in Greece. Using regional public investment data for 10 political periods (1975-2009), combined with electoral data by constituency, a model is proposed which captures the...

Benefits of federation are in more flexible use of the social and economic potential of its subjects at wide inter-regional competition. The federal system allows to use effects of either greater economic space or more complete considering of local conditions and interests. Specificity of modern...