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- Keyword
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- Fiscal Decentralization; District Economic Growth; Local Bodies; LSGA (1)
- Fiscal competition; disciplining e ect; scal equalization; system GMM (1)
- Local income distribution; sample reweighting; income inequality; top incomes (1)
- Metro to nonmetro migration; urban to rural migration; county-to-county migration; natural amenities; (1)
- Social cohesion; FDI; Institutions; Religion in politics; Ethnic tensions; Conflicts; Panel data models; Fixed effects; Instrumental variables estimation; System GMM (1)
Articles 1 - 27 of 27
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tax Structure And Corruption: Cross-Country Evidence, Yongzheng Liu, Haibo Feng
Tax Structure And Corruption: Cross-Country Evidence, Yongzheng Liu, Haibo Feng
ICEPP Working Papers
The determinants of corruption have long been an important subject for research in the elds of economics and political science. The literature has identi ed a wide range of factors that cause corruption; however, little research has been done on how the design of government policy in uences corruption. We advance a new factor, the tax structure being measured as both tax mix and tax complexity, as another potential cause of corruption, and present strong supporting evidence by using a large sample of countries over the period 1995-2009. Our ndings indicate that: (1) countries relying more heavily on direct taxes …
Estimating The Personal Income Distribution In Spanish Municipalities Using Tax Micro-Data, Miriam Hortas-Rico, Jorge Onrubia, Daniele Pacifico
Estimating The Personal Income Distribution In Spanish Municipalities Using Tax Micro-Data, Miriam Hortas-Rico, Jorge Onrubia, Daniele Pacifico
ICEPP Working Papers
Local income data is an important economic indicator, widely used in a broad range of studies related to regional convergence, urban economics, fiscal federalism, housing and spatial analysis. Despite its importance, there is a lack of official data on local incomes and, most importantly, on local income distributions. In this paper we use official data on personal income tax returns and a reweighting procedure to derive a representative income sample at the local level. Unlike previous attempts in the literature to acquire local income estimates, the results obtained allow us to derive not only an average value for income but …
Decentralized Provision Of Public Infrastructure And Corruption, Anwar Shah
Decentralized Provision Of Public Infrastructure And Corruption, Anwar Shah
ICEPP Working Papers
During the past three decades, a large number of countries have introduced reforms to decentralize public decision making. Such reforms have proved controversial. Critics of these reforms argue that decentralized provision of infrastructure enhances vulnerability to corruption. Proponents of these reforms counter that corruption arises from lack of people empowerment and decentralization by bringing decision making closer to people shines sunlight on government operations and empowers people to hold government to account and thereby offers potential for combating corruption in the long run. They further state that decentralized provision of infrastructure holds a great promise in upgrading infrastructure to underserviced …
Corruption And Firm Tax Evasion, James Alm, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Chandler Mcclellan
Corruption And Firm Tax Evasion, James Alm, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Chandler Mcclellan
ICEPP Working Papers
Although corruption and tax evasion are distinct and separate problems, they can easily become intertwined and reinforcing. A society that is more corrupt may enable more tax evasion as corrupt officials seek more income via bribes; conversely, higher levels of tax evasion may drive corruption by offering more opportunities for bribes. While a large body of work on each subject separately has emerged, the relationship between the two problems has remained a largely unexplored area. In particular, there is no theoretical work that examines the relationship between corruption and firm tax evasion, focusing on how the potential for bribery of …
Investing In Health Infrastructure: How Decentralization Matters, Richard M. Bird, Francois Vaillancourt
Investing In Health Infrastructure: How Decentralization Matters, Richard M. Bird, Francois Vaillancourt
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper examines the infrastructure–decentralization nexus in the production of health services with a particular emphasis on the issue of health infrastructure. The first part of the paper presents evidence on health services and infrastructure spending in health for various countries or groups of countries showing the importance of infrastructure spending in the provision of health services. The second part of the paper examines why and how health services are joint production with collective and private characteristics. These characteristics affect the decentralization of such services and thus the decentralization of health infrastructure; it also raises the issue of who should …
Educational Infrastructure, School Construction, & Decentralization In Developing Countries: Key Issues For An Understudied Area, Alec Ian Gershberg
Educational Infrastructure, School Construction, & Decentralization In Developing Countries: Key Issues For An Understudied Area, Alec Ian Gershberg
ICEPP Working Papers
Poor and insufficient school infrastructure negatively impacts student learning and schooling outcomes. Myriad factors have contributed to an infrastructure gap in the education sector in many countries – rapid increases in enrolments, poor maintenance and aging capital stocks, rural to urban migration, and inefficient government planning and school construction to name a few. Various forms of decentralization are likely to be involved both to improve governance and accountability and to foster innovation and cost saving in the school construction industry and investment and project cycle. This paper first discusses why the topic is interesting and worth considering; next we lay …
Public Input Competition Under Stackelberg Equilibrium: A Note, Yongzheng Liu, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
Public Input Competition Under Stackelberg Equilibrium: A Note, Yongzheng Liu, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper examines the Stackelberg equilibrium for public input competition and compares it with the non-cooperative Nash equilibrium. Given two asymmetric regions, we show that under the Nash equilibrium, the more productive region tends to spend more on public input, which results in this region attracting more capital than the less productive region. The comparison of the two equilibria reveals that the leader region obtains a rst-mover advantage under the Stackelberg setting. This suggests that if regions interact with each other sequentially as in the Stackelberg equilibrium, then the regional disparity that is due to the heterogeneity of productivity is …
Rural Roads: Multi-Tier Monitoring Of Infrastructure: Top Down And Bottom Up, Ha. T.T. Vu, Robert D. Ebel
Rural Roads: Multi-Tier Monitoring Of Infrastructure: Top Down And Bottom Up, Ha. T.T. Vu, Robert D. Ebel
ICEPP Working Papers
The focus of this paper is on the last set of these questions -- that of the capacity and the practice of decentralized infrastructure monitoring. The experience and practice of low, middle and high income countries alike is considered. The paper is organized as follows: the next section, Section 2, defines how infrastructure is defined for purposes here, and then proceeds to discuss where the monitoring of infrastructure fits into the broader activity of decentralized infrastructure management. Section 3 then lays out some of the “pre-conditions” for effective decentralized monitoring of infrastructure, leading to the conclusion that for many developing …
Capital Infrastructure And Equity Objectives In Decentralized Systems, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev
Capital Infrastructure And Equity Objectives In Decentralized Systems, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev
ICEPP Working Papers
All in all, in this paper we argue that disparities in the availability of and need for capital infrastructure matters for fiscal equity. However, we believe that a proper discussion of this topic should be framed in terms of the incidence of outputs and outcomes of public services produced with this infrastructure. Infrastructure alone cannot be assigned any policy priority independent of programs and services that utilize these capital assets. Once we place this discussion in the framework of access to and quality of public services, we then move to the question of the best form of policy intervention, which …
Some New Thoughts On Performance Evaluation Of Governments: An Application To Indian Cities, Simanti Bandyopadhyay
Some New Thoughts On Performance Evaluation Of Governments: An Application To Indian Cities, Simanti Bandyopadhyay
ICEPP Working Papers
The present paper is an attempt to build up a framework which can holistically analyse the performance of governments bringing in the financial parameters as well as service delivery. We propose a three step methodology capturing different aspects of performance, integrated in the same framework. We generate the expenditure efficiency scores of governments based on expenditure and service delivery, applying non parametric Data Envelopment Analysis in the first step. This also enables us to identify the possible sources of mis-utilisation of resources on different expenditure heads. The second step consists of a detailed assessment of fiscal patterns of governments with …
But Most Of All We Love Each Other: Does Social Cohesion Pay Off? Evidence From Fdi Flows To Middle Income Countries, Wasseem Mina
But Most Of All We Love Each Other: Does Social Cohesion Pay Off? Evidence From Fdi Flows To Middle Income Countries, Wasseem Mina
ICEPP Working Papers
The World Bank (2013) argues that social cohesion shapes the context in which entrepreneurs make investment decisions and therefore job creation. In this paper, we focus on FDI as one link of primary importance in this argument, and empirically examine the relationship between social cohesion and FDI flows. Using panel data on 52 middle income countries for the period 1984-2012, we first identify social cohesion-related institutions using principal component analysis and then examine the influence of those institutions individually and as a principal component on FDI flows. PCA identifies religion in politics, internal and external conflicts, and ethnic tensions as …
Municipal Finance In India: Some Critical Issues, Simanti Bandyopadhyay
Municipal Finance In India: Some Critical Issues, Simanti Bandyopadhyay
ICEPP Working Papers
With the help of the available literature, the paper attempts to assess critically the main problems of municipal finances in India and to bring out the challenges that the municipalities face with respect to revenue generation and expenditure management. The main findings suggest that the urban local bodies in India are confronted with lack of proper decentralization of functions and finances, inadequate revenue generation, expenditure shortfalls leading to poor service delivery. It also analyses the suggestions and recommendations that have been offered in the literature to cope with these critical challenges relating to urban finance.
Tax Evasion, The Provision Of Public Infrastructure, And Growth: A General Equilibrium Approach To Two Very Different Countries, Egypt And Mauritius, Andrew Feltenstein
Tax Evasion, The Provision Of Public Infrastructure, And Growth: A General Equilibrium Approach To Two Very Different Countries, Egypt And Mauritius, Andrew Feltenstein
ICEPP Working Papers
We construct a dynamic multi-period general equilibrium model and use it to analyze prospects for growth in two very different countries, Egypt and Mauritius. The use of a single model has the advantage that when comparing alternative policies across countries, it is not necessary to worry if different conclusions are based solely upon model differences, as would be the case with multiple models. In the case of Egypt we look at the effects of the revolution of 2011 on growth, in particular, at the impact of a dramatic decline in tourism. In addressing the issue of how to increase growth …
Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization On Economic Growth In The Districts Of Nepal, K. L. Devkota
Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization On Economic Growth In The Districts Of Nepal, K. L. Devkota
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper focuses on the evolving pattern of fiscal decentralization and its impact on the growth of per capita GDP of the districts in Nepal. The dependent variable is the growth of the per capita district agricultural GDP, which is, used as a proxy for the annual growth of per capita district GDP growth. The revenue and expenditure indices have been used as the fiscal decentralization variables. The paper also uses a dummy variable for the Local Self Governance Act (LSGA) as a fiscal decentralization variable. From the various regressions, it is found that fiscal decentralization has positively influenced the …
The Political Economy Of Local Infrastructure Planning, Leonardo Romeo, Paul Smoke
The Political Economy Of Local Infrastructure Planning, Leonardo Romeo, Paul Smoke
ICEPP Working Papers
Developing countries face considerable challenges in the design and operation of local infrastructure planning systems in decentralized or decentralizing countries. Many of these are well documented, but the complex political economy environment in which planning evolves has received insufficient attention. The forces driving decentralization and other public sector reforms shape how planning emerges, functions and performs. Local planning involves a range of differentially empowered and variously motivated actors at multiple levels and in diverse ways. The dynamics among them can support or undermine authentic local planning, with potentially significant implications for results. This paper reviews the evolution of local infrastructure …
Inter-Jurisdictional Tax Competition In China, Yongzheng Liu, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
Inter-Jurisdictional Tax Competition In China, Yongzheng Liu, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the extent and possible channels of tax competition among provincial governments in China. Using a panel of provincial- level data for 1993-2007, we nd strong evidence of strategic tax interaction among provincial governments. Tax policy is approximated by average e ective tax rates on foreign investment, taking into account the tax incentives available to foreign in- vestors. In line with the predictions of the theoretical tax competition literature, we also highlight the impact of each province's characteristics (including its size and level of industrialization) on the strategic interaction with its neighbors. Finally, …
Does Competition For Capital Discipline Governments? The Role Of Fiscal Equalization, Yongzheng Liu
Does Competition For Capital Discipline Governments? The Role Of Fiscal Equalization, Yongzheng Liu
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper examines how a scal equalization system a ects the disciplining e ect of competition for capital among heterogeneous regions in a decentralized economy. I build a model in which regions that are heterogeneous in initial endowments try to attract capital by competing public input that enhances the productivity of capital; meanwhile, a scal equalization system is imposed by the central government to reduce regional disparities in scal capacity. The key prediction, borne out in data from the German equalization system, is that while competition for capital strengthens discipline in the well-endowed regions, it weakens discipline in the poorly-endowed …
Decentralization And Infrastructure: From Gaps To Solutions, Jonas Frank, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
Decentralization And Infrastructure: From Gaps To Solutions, Jonas Frank, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
ICEPP Working Papers
The subnational dimension of infrastructure emerges as one of the greatest challenges in contemporary public finance policy and management. Given the localized nature of most infrastructures, ensuring its efficient provision represents a challenge for all countries irrespective of their level of centralization or decentralization. This paper introduces the fundamental questions surrounding the provision of infrastructure in decentralized settings and summarizes the findings from a collection of original essays prepared for this volume by a set of worldwide experts on this subject with the objective of advancing our understanding of the interplay between decentralization and infrastructure. More specifically, the paper discusses …
Decentralization And Infrastructure: Principles And Practice, Roy W. Bahl, Richard M. Bird
Decentralization And Infrastructure: Principles And Practice, Roy W. Bahl, Richard M. Bird
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper reviews the theoretical and practical issues surrounding the decentralization of responsibility for the provision of infrastructure to local governments in low income countries. The focus is on structural rather than management issues. There is plenty of evidence that following the theory can lead to efficient outcomes under decentralization, but also plenty of evidence that the theory and the practice often diverge widely. Seven policy rules that could support a successful decentralization of appropriate infrastructure services are drawn out of this review.
Rural Roads: The Challenge Of Decentralized Implementation, Simon D. Ellis, Aurelio Menendez
Rural Roads: The Challenge Of Decentralized Implementation, Simon D. Ellis, Aurelio Menendez
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper will review the key elements required for effective decentralized implementation of rural roads programs. It will review the range of options available and the evidence for successful implementation where it exists. Section 2 makes the case for the importance of rural roads and sets out the evidence for the socio-economic benefits. Section 3 addresses the responsibilities for implementation and critical importance of having clarity over network ownership. Section 4 highlights the difficulties of finance, particularly for longer term maintenance, and sets out options for improving allocations and the reliability of receipt for those allocations. Section 5 sets out …
Efficiency Cost Of Fiscal Equalization:The Case Of Belarus, Sebastian Eckardt, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev
Efficiency Cost Of Fiscal Equalization:The Case Of Belarus, Sebastian Eckardt, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev
ICEPP Working Papers
No abstract provided.
Rural Bound: Determinants Of Metro To Non-Metro Migration In The U.S, Anil Rupasingha, Yongzheng Liu, Mark Partridge
Rural Bound: Determinants Of Metro To Non-Metro Migration In The U.S, Anil Rupasingha, Yongzheng Liu, Mark Partridge
ICEPP Working Papers
A general global precept is that agglomeration forces lead to migration from rural to urban areas. Yet, for much of the period since the early 1970s, more people moved from metro to nonmetro U.S. counties. The underlying causes of this pattern have changed over time with economic shocks and changing household preferences. For instance, the post 2000 period has seen a significant decline in domestic migration rates, significant increase in commodity prices that favor rural areas, and potential changes in the valuation of natural amenities that would affect migration. This study investigates the determinants of U.S. gross migration from metro …
Do Government Preferences Matter For Tax Competition?, Yongzheng Liu
Do Government Preferences Matter For Tax Competition?, Yongzheng Liu
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper explores how government preferences a ect the choices of capital tax rates in the presence of tax competition. We develop a model in which governments, di erentiating in their preferences for economic development and regional equality, compete for mobile capital over corporation taxes. The key prediction of the model, borne out in data from OECD countries over the years 1990-2007, is that countries emphasizing more on economic development tend to choose lower level of corporate income tax rates than the counterparts that stressing more on regional equality. Our result contributes to the tax competition literature by advancing a …
Coordination Of Infrastructure Investment Across Levels Of Government, Catherine Gamper, Claire Charbit
Coordination Of Infrastructure Investment Across Levels Of Government, Catherine Gamper, Claire Charbit
ICEPP Working Papers
The share of public investment spending at sub-national level has been slowly but steadily increasing over the past two decades across OECD countries. Degrees and forms of decentralization in infrastructure vary widely across countries, but all governments share a common objective, that is to mobilize authorities along shared infrastructure policy objectives. This involves managing a complex web of vertical (across levels of government) and horizontal (across sectors and across the same levels of government) interdependencies, which require substantial coordination among actors to ensure policy alignment and quality investments. Asymmetric information, multiple principal-agent relationships and significant differences in capacities across levels …
The Infrastructure Gap And Decentralization, Luis Andres, Dan Biller, Jordan Schwartz
The Infrastructure Gap And Decentralization, Luis Andres, Dan Biller, Jordan Schwartz
ICEPP Working Papers
This paper proposes an economic logic for underpinning decentralization in the infrastructure sectors. It starts by detailing the definition of the infrastructure gap and the methodologies to calculate it. It provides some global trends for developing countries in terms of the gap and briefly discusses financing possibilities for developing countries to address the gap. Then it turns to the discussion of the link between the infrastructure gap and decentralization, providing a typology infrastructure subsectors and possible jurisdiction of service provision. It briefly discusses the potential for raising local finances for provision and the relationship between poverty and provision. While it …
Trends And Quality Of Decentralized Public Investment, Lorena Vineula
Trends And Quality Of Decentralized Public Investment, Lorena Vineula
ICEPP Working Papers
Around the world state and local governments have an important and growing role in the provision of public infrastructure services. Subnational governments presently account for an average of 63 percent of public fixed capital formation in OECD countries and approximately for 40 percent in developing countries. However, to date, the subnational dimension of public investment has been largely overlooked and it is not as well documented as other local responsibilities in service delivery.
Global Taxes And International Taxation: Mirage And Reality, Richard M. Bird
Global Taxes And International Taxation: Mirage And Reality, Richard M. Bird
ICEPP Working Papers
No abstract is available for this item.