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Fiscal Decentralization In The Czech And Slovak Republics: A Comparative Study Of Moral Hazard, Phillip J. Bryson, Gary C. Cornia, Gloria E. Wheeler

Faculty Publications

Fiscal decentralization has provided neither the benefits of decentralization nor an independent revenue source for subnational governments in the Czech and Slovak Republics. In Slovakia, political conditions early in the transition led to the relative neglect of revenue transfers from the center. This produced financial stress but also encouraged greater fiscal independence for local governments. It also forced them to seek maximal property tax revenues. The Czech Republic made more substantial transfers to local governments, but the development of fiscal autonomy was stifled as transfers reduced the need for own-source local revenues. The Czech real estate tax has remained nominal …