Description
Book SynopsisAre fiscally decentralized countries inherently more unstable? Or is it a question of the design of decentralization, requiring, for example, higher sub-national revenue autonomy and hard budget constraints? The ongoing euro crisis offers an assortment of relevant country case studies to test some of those important propositions. This volume provides authoritative and insightful assessments of how decentralization and macroeconomic stability relate to each other, and significantly contributes to our understanding of multi-level finance and to improving decentralization design.'
- Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Georgia State University, US
Representing a unique contribution to the analysis and discussion of the unfolding Eurozone crisis in terms of the relationship between central and local government, this book addresses a number of important fiscal and political economy questions. To what extent have local and regional governments contributed to the crisis? To what degree have sub-national services and investments borne the brunt of the adjustments? How have multi-level fissures affected tensions between different levels of government from the supranational to the local? This volume covers these and many other critical issues that have been largely ignored despite their relevance.
The book first addresses general issues of fiscal coordination and management across levels of government in the context of incentives, which can be altered by the existence of a supranational tier. The country-specific chapters, prepared by leading experts, provide a thorough review of the key problems of multi-levels of government in the biggest economies in the Eurozone (France and Germany) and Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece). In further chapters the juxtaposition of Barcelona and Turin provides an opportunity to evaluate large investments in a multi-level context, associated, in this case, with the Olympics. Macedonia provides a discussion of the related issues in an EU accession country. As a whole, the book explores the long-term impact of the crisis on local service delivery and investment, and the consequences for sustainable growth and political cohesion. It also offers rarely found insights and suggestions to increase the stability and strength of multi-level European institutions.
This is an enlightening resource for all those, from academics and graduates to policy makers and practitioners, seeking a comprehensive understanding of European fiscal, federal and financial issues.
Contributors: E. Ahmad, M.F. Ambrosanio, P. Balduzzi, M. Bordignon, G. Brosio, G. Chortareas, M. Fortuna, P. Garello, S. Lagos-Peñas, V.E. Logothetis, G. Milbradt, L.F. Minervini, A. Mourmouras, M. Nikolov, J.S. Pandiello, S. Piperno, P. Rangazas, A. Solé Ollé, P.B. Spahn, T. Ter-Minassian, A. Vinella
Trade Review‘Are fiscally decentralized countries inherently more unstable? Or is it a question of the design of decentralization, requiring, for example, higher sub-national revenue autonomy and hard budget constraints? The ongoing euro crisis offers an assortment of relevant country case studies to test some of those important propositions. This volume provides authoritative and insightful assessments of how decentralization and macroeconomic stability relate to each other, and significantly contributes to our understanding of multi-level finance and to improving decentralization design.’ -- Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Georgia State University, US
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction: How Multilevel Finance has Contributed to the Crisis and is Affected by it? Ehtisham Ahmad, Massimo Bordignon and Giorgio Brosio PART I MANAGING SUBNATIONAL LIABILITIES IN EUROPE 1. Promoting Stabilizing and Sustainable Sub-national Fiscal Policies in the Euro Area Teresa Ter-Minassian 2. Political Economy of Information Generation and Financial Management for Sub-national Governments: Some lessons from International Experience Ehtisham Ahmad 3. History of the Constitutional Debt Limits in Germany and the New “Debt Brake” - Experiences and Critique: Georg Milbradt PART II INCIPIENT PROBLEMS IN THE BIGGEST COUNTRIES IN EUROPE 4. Multi-level Finance and the Euro Crisis: The German Experience Paul Bernd Spahn 5. French Subnational Public Finances: On the Difficulty of being a Decentralized Unitary State. Pierre Garello PART III THE TROUBLED COUNTRIES OF SOUTHERN EUROPE 6. Economics and Politics of Local Greek Government Giorgios Chortareas and Vassileios E. Logothetis 7. Portugal’s Multi-level Finance Adjustments Within the Sovereign Debt and Euro Crises Mário Fortuna 8. Multi-level Finance and Governance in Spain: The Impact of the Euro Crisis Santiago Lago-Peñas and Alberto Solé Ollé 9. Economic Crisis and Fiscal Federalism in Italy Maria Flavia Ambrosanio, Paolo Balduzzi and Massimo Bordignon PART IV CITIES, THE OLYMPICS AND GROWTH 10. A Tale of Two Cities: The Olympics in Barcelona and Turin Giorgio Brosio, Stefano Piperno and Javier Suarez Pandiello PART V ACCESSION STATES 11. The Impact of the Global Crisis on Macedonian Local Governments. Marjan Nikolov PART VI SOME GENERAL LESSONS 12. Clientelistic Politics and Multi-level Finance: Some Implications for Regional Inequality and Growth Alex Mourmouras and Peter Rangazas 13. Incentives Facing Local Governments in the Absence of Credible Enforcement Leo Fulvio Minervini and Annalisa Vinella Index
