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Fiscal Decentralization and Government Size: An International Test for Leviathan Accounting for Unmeasured Economic Activity

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Author Info
John Anderson
Hendrik van den Berg

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Abstract

Tests for the presence of Leviathan, evidenced by a positive relationship between the size of government measured as a percentage of GDP, and the degree of fiscal centralization, have provided mixed results. We derive alternative measures of the size of government taking into account household and informal market activity. Traditional Leviathan models are then re-estimated for an international sample of forty-five countries. Controlling for income, population, intergovernmental grants, and urbanization we test whether fiscal centralization is responsible for the relative size of government. We find no evidence of a relationship between fiscal centralization and government size. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1998

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/A:1008690304663
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Springer in its journal International Tax and Public Finance.

Volume (Year): 5 (1998)
Issue (Month): 2 (May)
Pages: 171-186
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Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:5:y:1998:i:2:p:171-186

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Related research
Keywords: Leviathan; fiscal centralization; size of government; unmeasured economic activity;

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Grossman, Philip J, 1992. "Fiscal Decentralization and Public Sector Size in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 68(202), pages 240-46, September.
  2. Merz, Joachim & Wolff, Klaus G, 1993. "The Shadow Economy: Illicit Work and Household Production: A Microanalysis of West Germany," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(2), pages 177-94, June.
  3. Grossman, Philip J & West, Edwin G, 1994. " Federalism and the Growth of Government Revisited," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 79(1-2), pages 19-32, April.
  4. Zax, Jeffrey S, 1989. "Is There a Leviathan in Your Neighborhood?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 560-67, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Fitzgerald, John & Wicks, John, 1990. "Measuring the Value of Household Output: A Comparison of Direct and Indirect Approaches," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(2), pages 129-41, June.
  6. Brennan, Geoffrey & Buchanan, James M., 1978. "Tax instruments as constraints on the disposition of public revenues," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 301-318, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Locay, Luis, 1990. "Economic Development and the Division of Production between Households and Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 965-82, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Forbes, Kevin F & Zampelli, Ernest M, 1989. "Is Leviathan a Mythical Beast?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 568-77, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Sprenkle, Case M, 1993. "The Case of the Missing Currency," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 175-84, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Hawrylyshyn, Oli, 1976. "The Value of Household Services: A Survey of Empirical Estimates," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 22(2), pages 101-31, June.
  11. Chadeau, Ann, 1985. "Measuring Household Activities: Some International Comparisons," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 31(3), pages 237-53, September.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jorge Martínez Vázquez & Robert M. McNab, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization, macrostability and growth," Hacienda Pública Española, IEF, vol. 179(4), pages 25-49, September. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Fox, William F. & Gurley, Tami, 2006. "Will consolidation improve sub-national governments ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3913, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jon H. Fiva, 2005. "New Evidence on Fiscal Decentralization and the Size of Government," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  4. Roger H. Gordon & John D. Wilson, 2001. "Expenditure Competition," NBER Working Papers 8189, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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