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Should Intergovernmental Transfers Provide Insurance to the States?

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  • Emilio Espino

Abstract

This paper studies the constrained efficient intergovernmental transfer contract between the central government and the states in a federal economy. We consider an environment with moral hazard, incomplete enforceability, and date-0 negotiation costs. The interaction of moral hazard and incomplete enforceability may imply that when the state's resources are "low enough," it is constrained efficient that the state gets a lower utility level than in autarky. When negotiation costs are considered, the state might not accept the contract. More importantly, the degree of acceptance of the contract by the state is not monotonically determined by the state's fiscal situation.

Suggested Citation

  • Emilio Espino, 2005. "Should Intergovernmental Transfers Provide Insurance to the States?," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 161(1), pages 103-125, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:mhr:jinste:urn:sici:0932-4569(200503)161:1_103:sitpit_2.0.tx_2-d
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wildasin, David E., 1989. "Interjurisdictional capital mobility: Fiscal externality and a corrective subsidy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 193-212, March.
    2. Atkeson, Andrew, 1991. "International Lending with Moral Hazard and Risk of Repudiation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(4), pages 1069-1089, July.
    3. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1996. "Federal Fiscal Constitutions: Risk Sharing and Moral Hazard," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(3), pages 623-646, May.
    4. Sanguinetti, Pablo & Tommasi, Mariano, 2004. "Intergovernmental transfers and fiscal behavior insurance versus aggregate discipline," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 149-170, January.
    5. Michael J. Keen & Christos Kotsogiannis, 2002. "Does Federalism Lead to Excessively High Taxes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 363-370, March.
    6. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1996. "Federal Fiscal Constitutions: Risk Sharing and Redistribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 979-1009, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Toni Mora, 2008. "The Relationship between the Capacity of the Spanish Central Government to Retain Tax-Revenue Shares and Interregional Inequality," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 26(3), pages 601-613, June.
    2. David E. Wildasin, 2008. "Disaster Policies," Public Finance Review, , vol. 36(4), pages 497-518, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C6 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations

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