Autonomy or Independence: Intergovernmental Financial Relations in Eleven Countries

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Authors

Watts, Ronald L.

Date

2005

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working paper

Language

en

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Watts Collection

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Abstract

This study compares intergovernmental financial arrangements in eleven countries. Five are mature federations (the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Germany), four are transitional federations (Brazil, India, South Africa and Spain), and two are mature decentralized unitary political systems (Sweden and Japan). The financial arrangements in these eleven countries are compared in terms of the constitutional and political context; the allocation and scope of federal, state and local expenditures and revenues; the nature, role and scope of intergovernmental transfers; systems of tax harmonization and collection; decisionmaking processes for intergovernmental financial relations; recent major reform efforts; and identification of distinctive and unique features. The economic and political performance of these eleven financial arrangements is also assessed in terms of a variety of economic and political criteria.

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© 2005 IIGR, Queen's University

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Queen's University Institute of Intergovernmental Relations

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