In 2012/13, the federal government's total transfers to the provinces amounted to $60.1 billion, or $1,725 per capita. This study examines one of those federal transfer programs, equalization. Equalization is an unconditional transfer offederal funds to provinces eligible for such payments; eligibility is determined based upon calculations of "fiscal capacity" (which is calculated based on a provincess ability to raise its own revenues). In total, from 2005/06 to 2012/13 (the period covered by this study), the federal government has transferred $107.5 billion in equalization, $4.6 billion in offshore agreement payments, and almost $2.2 billion in what is known as "total transfer protection" (the latter two are kinds of "equalization-plus" payments) to nine of Canada's ten provinces.
We often think of fiscal decisions as being made by a single government, but in the United States the reality is that an astounding number of entities have the power to tax and spend. State, local, and federal governments all play crucial roles in the U.S. fiscal system, and the interrelation has been the source of continuing controversy. This fact is the focus of the seven papers and commentaries presented in this volume, the result of a conference sponsored by the NBER. The contributors use various quantitative tools to study policy issues, obtaining results that will interest policymakers and researchers working in the areas of taxation and public finance. The first three papers study the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. John Joseph Wallis and Wallace E. Oates look at the extend and evolution of decentralization in the state and local sector; Robert P. Inman examines the growth of federal grants and the structure of congressional decision making; and Jeffrey S. Zax investigates the effects of the number of government jurisdictions on aggregate local public debt and expenditures. The next three papers look at the deductibility of state and local taxes on federal tax returns. Using an econometric analysis, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Harvey S. Rosen examine the effects of deductibility on revenue sources and level of expenditures. Lawrence B. Lindsey looks at how deductibility affects the level and type of taxation. George R. Zodrow uses a two-sector general equilibrium model to investigate revenue effects of deductibility. Finally, Charles R. Hulten and Robert M. Schwab analyze the problem of developing an accurate estimate of income for the state and local sector, finding that conventional accounting procedures have underestimated the income generated by a startling $100 billion.
Over the past few decades, a clear trend has emerged worldwide toward the devolution of spending and, to a lesser extent, revenue-raising responsibilities to state and local levels of government. One view is that the decentralization of spending responsibilities can entail substantial gains in terms of distributed equity and macroeconomic management. The papers in this volume, edited by Teresa Ter-Minassian, examine the validity of these views in light of theoretical considerations, as well as the experience of a number of countries.
Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: -, , language: English, abstract: A large number of countries are trying to improve their ability to serve their inhabitants more efficiently and more effectively. To accomplish this ambition, a reawakening of interest in the practices and in the principles and of fiscal federalism is mandatory. Questions arise such as: - How many taxes are necessary to provide an efficient amount of local public goods? - How should the taxes be allocated most reasonable between the different levels of governments? - Which level of government should have how much freedom of choice concerning tax revenues and tax expenditures, or differently, which degree of decentralisation is most constructive? Generally, two conflicting possibilities to provide an efficient level of local public goods are existing: The first one proposes a high degree of centralisation of the tax system which would lead, if the government is totally benevolent, to an efficient output of local public goods. An argument against centralisation is that a centralised system cannot serve the different needs and preferences of the inhabitants of unequal regions. The second perception states that an efficient level of local public can be provided if the system is decentralised. A possible disadvantage of decentralisation is the appearance of tax competition which may lead to an inefficient low level of local public goods. The discrepancy between these two conflictive systems is going to be discussed in this thesis. Furthermore, politico-economic mechanisms, which are supposed to explain the correlation between degree of centralisation and size of government are introduced which leads to the research question of this thesis: Does a decentralised tax system lead to a smaller size of government compared to a centralised tax system? Which politico-economic mechanisms are responsible for this correlation? In relation to these questions, different approaches are discussed, underlined by theoretical and empirical models. The first one, a public choice approach, states that central governments operate like monopolists, or leviathans, extracting as much tax revenues from the citizens as possible. The aim is not to maximise social welfare, but to increase their control over the resources of the economy. This approach was formulated by Brennan’s and Buchnan’s Leviathan hypothesis (1980), stating, subject to the above mentioned conditions, that a higher degree of decentralisation leads to a smaller size of government. [...]
A remarkable change has occurred in how we finance the public enterprise, yet this change has gone largely unnoticed by the general public. Policy makers in the federal, state and local levels of government have had to respond to this change. The causes of the change, future policy directions, and the eventual impact on society of this change is the subject of this book. Six of the nation's most influential economists, political scientists and sociologists have been asked to comment and their views can be found here.
Contributors provide a fascinating account of how federal countries are confronting the traditional challenges of conflicts over division of fiscal powers while also coping with emerging challenges of globalization and citizen empowerment arising from the information revolution. They analyze how relationships and roles in different orders of government are being reshaped and show how local solutions inspired by global principles help strengthen government accountability and improve the quality of life for citizens.
In 2012/13, the federal government's total transfers to the provinces amounted to $60.1 billion, or $1,725 per capita. This study examines one of those federal transfer programs, equalization. Equalization is an unconditional transfer offederal funds to provinces eligible for such payments; eligibility is determined based upon calculations of "fiscal capacity" (which is calculated based on a provincess ability to raise its own revenues). In total, from 2005/06 to 2012/13 (the period covered by this study), the federal government has transferred $107.5 billion in equalization, $4.6 billion in offshore agreement payments, and almost $2.2 billion in what is known as "total transfer protection" (the latter two are kinds of "equalization-plus" payments) to nine of Canada's ten provinces.
Decentralism of political power to regions and local government occurs worldwide in response to demands from the periphery. Such devolution of power raises a number of problems - political, financial, and legal. By gathering together important papers from a series of workshops sponsored by the SNS Constitutional Project and the Center for European Integration Studies, this volume presents a number of these problems from a truly interdisciplinary perspective. The authors believe that fiscal federalism, while originating in formally federal states, is relevant also to the analysis of state-local relationships in unitary states with some degree of regional or local authority. Among the topics they cover are the division of responsibilities and powers of taxation, bailouts, systems of equalization, and state grants, as well as problems related to democracy and citizens' rights. While the book's primary focus is Nordic, its international perspective is enhanced by contributions from Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
