This paper examines how natural disasters affect local public finances and their interplay with intergovernmental transfers and external resources. Exploiting the randomized nature of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, we document its causal...

This paper examines how natural disasters affect local public finances and their interplay with intergovernmental transfers and external resources. Exploiting the randomized nature of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, we document its causal...

This study investigates the importance of leadership as a driver of local government innovations. Based on a survey of 209 innovations introduced in selected 48 local governments in the Philippines during the period June 2004-June 2008, the observable qualities and possible incentives of...

While gerrymandering in developing countries is often pushed by local authorities to secure political advantages, fiscal grants systems under decentralization may also have result in the same. We investigate this issue to identify the correlates of the growth in the number of cities in the...