This study, entitled “Municipal Finance in India – An Assessmentâ€, undertaken for the Development Research Group (DRG), Reserve Bank of India examines the performance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in India. Using data from 35 Metropolitan Municipal Corporations, the study...

This paper designs a new equalization-aid formula based on fiscal gaps of local communities. Using conceptual analysis and simulations with Massachusetts data, the authors illustrate the tradeoffs that policymakers face in deciding on the policy variables in the formula and lay out several...

A test of whether the enactment of a dedicated tax leads to higher payroll and wages for public employees, by means of survey results from the local mass-transit industry.

In convening the third session of the World Urban Forum in Vancouver, the United Nations Human Settlements Program has asked us to focus our attention on the Sustainable City and consider critical challenges across three sub-themes: • Urban Growth And Environment• Partnership And...

The recent financial crisis blew a hole in the municipal bond market. But it has been shifting for more than a year.

Once a useful and sophisticated tool for cheap financing, issuers discover the dark side of more exotic bonds.

Redistributive grants schemes, such as fiscal equalization, are a common characteristic of local public finance in several countries. However, large and small jurisdictions are treated differently by the respective fiscal equalization schemes that often tend to favour larger jurisdictions. This...