Edward Elgar Publishing Financing Decentralized Expenditures: An International Comparison of Grants (Studies in Fiscal Federalism and State-local Finance series)

Financing Decentralized Expenditures presents new original research papers on the structure of intergovernmental fiscal relations in virtually all types of countries and the design and implementation of transfer mechanisms between different levels of government. In developing, transition, and industrial countries alike, the process of decentralization of government expenditures has proceeded apace to provide better accountability and quality of services to consumers. At the same time, tax administration constraints dictate the central collection and assignment of the major sources of revenues – particularly income taxes and VAT. This generates an imbalance in favour of the central government. The manner in which this imbalance in redistributed affects the degree and nature of decentralization generating considerable debate in countries as diverse as Italy and Denmark, those in North America, as well as countries in transition, such as China and Russia. The book includes a balance of overview pieces that explore the general issues supplemented by a large number of studies of intergovernmental transfer systems in specific countries. It offers a unique source of reference by providing a wealth of information of grant systems around the world. Review ‘. . . the book is a useful addition to the literature on fiscal federalism and state–local finance as for the first time in one volume one can find analysis of grant systems of several countries.’ -- Anand N. Asthana, Kyklos ‘. . . the book can be recommended for its very useful country chapters.’ -- David King, The Economic Journal ‘In this volume, Ehtisham Ahmad has assembled a rich collection of studies of intergovernmental grant systems from around the world. For the first time, we have access in a single volume to descriptions and critical assessments of grant systems from a wide range of industrialised and developing countries including Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Scandinavian countries, India, Korea, Indonesia and China . . . It provides a rich source of material to guide both scholars and practitioners in thinking about the design of systems of intergovernmental grants.’ -- Wallace E. Oates, University of Maryland, and Resources for the Future, US About the Author Edited by Ehtisham Ahmad, London School of Economics, UK, Chinese Academy of Fiscal Science and Zhejiang University, China