Most previous fiscal reforms in Russia have focused on problems at the federal level or in the system of federal transfers to the regional governments. This report focuses instead on opportunities for reform at the subnational level. It reviews recent trends in fiscal adjustment, budgeting, and...

The dynamic fiscal policy adjustment of local jurisdictions is investigated empirically using a panel of more than 1000 U.S. municipalities over a quarter of a century. Distinguishing own revenues, grants, expenditures, and debt service, the analysis is carried out using a vector error...

Several recent studies suggest that equalizing transfers in a federal system may distort the tax policy decisions of states. We study this issue for the German federal fiscal system. In a simple theoretical model, we first identify a substitution and an income effect of equalizing transfers. Our...

Fiscal sustainability tests have largely ignored the institutional setting of fiscal policy making. Fiscal equalization schemes in federal states are one such institution. We examine whether German state governments pursue sustainable fiscal policies taking into account fiscal equalization...

This paper deals with interbudgetary relations and subnational finances in the Russian Federation. The authors focus on major trends in relations between budgets of different levels, measures taken by the federal government to mitigate the crisis impact on the regions

This paper deals with interbudgetary relations and subnational finances in the Russian Federation. The authors focus on the issue of subnational budgets during the financial crisis of 2008. They analyze financial aid from the federal budget to regional authorities

The release of the final draft of the Consultative Committee (Con-Com) to Review the 1987 Constitution, officially designated as “Bayanihan Federalism”, has spurred vigorous debate, with much discussion focusing on the fiscal repercussions of moving towards a federal form of government. This...

This paper investigates the effects of fiscal equalization grants on total expenditure and disaggregated expenditures by exploiting two different formula-based exogenous variations in grants. Examining the institutional settings of the Japanese fiscal equalization scheme and estimating local...

This paper examines the interactive impact of the state’s fiscal powers in the form of revenue decentralization when co-funded through central government grant transfers on the government's investment decisions in 18 major states of India between 2005-2016. Using system-GMM and other...