Is fiscal decentralization harmful for economic growth? Evidence from the OECD countries
Abstract
The global drive towards decentralization has been increasingly justified on the basis that greater transfers of resources to subnational governments are expected to deliver greater efficiency in the provision of public goods and services and greater economic growth. This paper examines whether this is the case, by analysing the relationship between decentralization and economic growth in 21 OECD countries during the period between 1990 and 2005 and controlling not only for fiscal decentralization, but also for political and administrative decentralization. The results point towards a negative and significant association between fiscal decentralization and economic growth in the sample countries, a relationship which is robust to the inclusion of a series of control variables and to differences in expenditure preferences by subnational governments. The impact of political and administrative decentralization on economic growth is weaker and sensitive to the definition and measurement of political decentralization.Download Info
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Paper provided by Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales in its series Working Papers with number 2010-09.Length:
Date of creation: 24 May 2010
Date of revision:
Publication status: Published in Journal of Economic Geography 11(4), July 2011: 619-643
Handle: RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2010-09
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Keywords: fiscal decentralization; political decentralization; administrative decentralization; economic growth; OECD;Other versions of this item:
- Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Roberto Ezcurra, 2011. "Is fiscal decentralization harmful for economic growth? Evidence from the OECD countries," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 619-643, July.
- Roberto Ezcurra & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2010. "Is Fiscal Decentralization Harmful for Economic Growth? Evidence from the OECD Countries," SERC Discussion Papers 0051, Spatial Economics Research Centre, LSE.
- H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
- H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
- H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2010-06-04 (All new papers)
- NEP-CWA-2010-06-04 (Central & Western Asia)
- NEP-EEC-2010-06-04 (European Economics)
- NEP-FDG-2010-06-04 (Financial Development & Growth)
- NEP-GEO-2010-06-04 (Economic Geography)
- NEP-PBE-2010-06-04 (Public Economics)
- NEP-POL-2010-06-04 (Positive Political Economics)
- NEP-URE-2010-06-04 (Urban & Real Estate Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease 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.:
- Gernot Doppelhofer & Ronald I. Miller & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2000.
"Determinants of Long-Term Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (Bace) Approach,"
OECD Economics Department Working Papers
266, OECD Publishing.
- Xavier Sala-I-Martin & Gernot Doppelhofer & Ronald I. Miller, 2004. "Determinants of Long-Term Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 813-835, September.
- Gernot Doppelhofer & Ronald I. Miller & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2000. "Determinants of Long-Term Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) Approach," NBER Working Papers 7750, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- repec:ays:ispwps:paper0101 is not listed on IDEAS
- Ulrich Thießen, 2003. "Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth in High-Income OECD Countries," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 24(3), pages 237-274, September.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Díaz Serrano, Lluís & Rodríguez Pose, Andrés, 2011.
"Decentralization, happiness and the perception of institutions,"
Working Papers
2072/151812, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
- Luis Diaz-Serrano & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2011. "Decentralization, happiness and the perception of institutions," Working Papers 2011-07, Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales.
- Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2011. "Decentralization, Happiness, and the Perception of Institutions," CEPR Discussion Papers 8356, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2011. "Decentralization, Happiness and the Perception of Institutions," IZA Discussion Papers 5647, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Heshmati, Almas & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2011. "A General Model of Technical Change with an Application to the OECD Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 6004, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Robert P. Inman & Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 2012. "Understanding the Democratic Transition in South Africa," NBER Working Papers 17799, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Inman, Robert P. & Rubinfeld, Daniel L., 2012. "Understanding the Democratic Transition in South Africa," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt4mp5t4ff, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
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