"Musgravian" externalities, formulated and illustrated by Musgrave in a 1966 paper on "social goods" are seen in this paper as one form of the interactions that occur between the components of a federation. The original formal apparatus is first exposed briefly. In that context, it is then considered whether and how alternative forms of federal structures are likely to achieve efficiency. Following suggestions from the literature, three such forms are dealt with: "planned", "cooperative" and "majority rule" federalisms. Next, the relevance of non cooperative equilibria is examined, in the light of an interpretation of them as "fall back" positions when disagreement occurs among members of a federation. Finally, the question is evoked of what economics and public finance may have to say on the limits to institutional decentralization, i.e. on the choice between federal, confederal and secessional structures. The paper concludes with a reminder of Musgrave's view on this issue.
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Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number
CESifo Working Paper No. 701.
Find related papers by JEL classification: D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
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