This article examines the effect of political variables on the gains obtained by Spanish regions in periodical bargaining of the intergovernmental financing agreements and on the regional distribution of discretional earmarked grants. First, we find that the relationship between gains in...

This paper explores the impact of decentralization on countries’ fiscal outcomes paying attention to one aspect usually neglected in the literature: the relevance of self-interested local politics. Relevance that can be proxied by the nationalization of political party systems, namely the...

In this paper we explore to what extent political regimes affect the competitive balance in domestic football (soccer) leagues. Relying on data from around 50 European countries and over 2,000 domestic leagues, we show that the percentage of league competitions won by the most successful club in...

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we analyze the Inter-territorial Compensation Fund (ICF) as a regional policy instrument contemplated in the 1978 Spanish Constitution. Attention is focused on the period 1990-2013. Both the drivers of the ICF and its impact on regional public investment...

The very strong foreign immigration in Spain between 1999 and 2009 has generated very limited effects on interregional convergence of per capita GDP and productivity, unlike what happened with the internal migration flows between 1955 and 1979. This article is aimed at explaining why. Results...

In this paper we analyze the determinants of the export performance firms. The methodology used is reminiscent of that of previous studies. The main novelty is the use of information provided by a specific field work done to effect. The analysis shows that export propensity is growing the more...

The aim of this paper is to add new arguments to the debate on the redesign of regional policies. An endogenous growth model is presented with two regions where the crucial issue for the removal of regional disparities is public investment. When testing the model using data obtained from Spanish...

This article focuses on the impact of both incrementalism and exogenous factors in budgeting. The authors present a double-distinction-based proposal combining incrementalism and exogenous factors and then apply this model to the case of Spain. This approach enables the authors to avoid some of...