IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rpo/ripoec/v94y2004i4p79-104.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal Equalisation: Some Questions of Design

Author

Listed:
  • Geoffrey Brennan

    (Australian National University, Canberra)

  • Jonathan J. Pincus

    (Productivity Commission, Melbourne)

Abstract

The case for fiscal equalisation can arise because of differences between states' average incomes or populations. In this paper, we examine the latter in a simple case, using different formulations of the social welfare function: Benthamite; Rawlsian; and Nash. We distinguish, in the process, two different understandings of efficiency abroad in economics — a Paretian notion, that is irrelevant to the case in hand; and a quasi-utilitarian sense. We conclude that fiscal equalisation is required only in the Rawlsian case. In all other cases, private goods consumption should be equalised — but no fiscal equalisation is required.

Suggested Citation

  • Geoffrey Brennan & Jonathan J. Pincus, 2004. "Fiscal Equalisation: Some Questions of Design," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 94(4), pages 79-104, July-Augu.
    • Handle: RePEc:rpo:ripoec:v:94:y:2004:i:4:p:79-104
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.rivistapoliticaeconomica.it/2004/lu-ago/brennan_pincus.php
    Download Restriction: Payment required
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brennan Geoffrey & Pincus Jonathan J., 2010. "Fiscal Equity In Federal Systems," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(3), pages 347-363, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • H73 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rpo:ripoec:v:94:y:2004:i:4:p:79-104. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sabrina Marino (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.