IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/saq/wpaper/8-16.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Policy Experimentation and Intergovernmental Grants in a Federal System

Author

Listed:
  • Giampaolo Garzarelli

    (Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy & IPEG, Johannesburg, South Africa.)

  • Lyndal Keeton

    (IPEG & School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.)

Abstract

Policymaking is a challenging production activity. A public sector organization that is often invoked to aid with this challenging activity is fiscal federalism, for a federation can act as a laboratory for policy experimentation. Yet there is no approach linking laboratory federalism to intergovernmental grants. This lacuna is puzzling, for grants are fundamental policy tools for federations. We develop an approach that fills this lacuna by interpreting grants as fiscal institutions for policy innovation: policy experimentation is encouraged or discouraged depending on the degree of grant conditionality, and a simple heuristic expresses mistake-ridden learning from experimentation.

Suggested Citation

  • Giampaolo Garzarelli & Lyndal Keeton, 2016. "Policy Experimentation and Intergovernmental Grants in a Federal System," Working Papers 8/16, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    • Handle: RePEc:saq:wpaper:8/16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.diss.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/allegati/DiSSE_Garzarelli_Keeton_wp8_2016.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giampaolo Garzarelli, 2006. "Cognition, Incentives, and Public Governance," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(3), pages 235-257, May.
    2. Fudenberg, Drew & Levine, David, 1998. "Learning in games," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 631-639, May.
    3. Dani Rodrik, 2014. "When Ideas Trump Interests: Preferences, Worldviews, and Policy Innovations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(1), pages 189-208, Winter.
    4. Kollman, Ken & Miller, John H & Page, Scott E, 2000. "Decentralization and the Search for Policy Solutions," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 102-128, April.
    5. Greif,Avner, 2006. "Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521480444.
    6. Olivier Blanchard & Andrei Shleifer, 2001. "Federalism With and Without Political Centralization: China Versus Russia," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(4), pages 1-8.
    7. Wildasin, David E., 2004. "The Institutions of Federalism: Toward an Analytical Framework," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(2), pages 247-272, June.
    8. Hart, Oliver, 1995. "Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288817.
    9. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    10. Drew Fudenberg & David K. Levine, 1998. "The Theory of Learning in Games," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262061945, December.
    11. Kenneth J. Arrow, 1987. "Arrow on Arrow: an Interview," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: George R. Feiwel (ed.), Arrow and the Foundations of the Theory of Economic Policy, chapter 23, pages 637-657, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Roberta Romano, 2005. "The States as a Laboratory: Legal Innovation and State Competition for Corporate Charters," Yale School of Management Working Papers amz2625, Yale School of Management, revised 01 Jul 2006.
    13. Cai, Hongbin & Treisman, Daniel, 2009. "Political Decentralization and Policy Experimentation," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 4(1), pages 35-58, March.
    14. Salmon, Pierre, 1987. "Decentralisation as an Incentive Scheme," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 3(2), pages 24-43, Summer.
    15. Kenneth J. Arrow, 1987. "Oral History I: An Interview," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: George R. Feiwel (ed.), Arrow and the Ascent of Modern Economic Theory, chapter 2, pages 191-242, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. Litschig, Stephan, 2012. "Are rules-based government programs shielded from special-interest politics? Evidence from revenue-sharing transfers in Brazil," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 1047-1060.
    17. Weingast, Barry R., 2014. "Second Generation Fiscal Federalism: Political Aspects of Decentralization and Economic Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 14-25.
    18. Craig Volden, 0. "Asymmetric Effects of Intergovernmental Grants: Analysis and Implications for U.S. Welfare Policy," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 29(3), pages 51-73.
    19. Michael Keating, 2005. "Policy convergence and divergence in Scotland under devolution," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 453-463.
    20. Koleman S. Strumpf, 2002. "Does Government Decentralization Increase Policy Innovation?," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 4(2), pages 207-241, April.
    21. Gilligan, Thomas W & Krehbiel, Keith, 1987. "Collective Decisionmaking and Standing Committees: An Informational Rationale for Restrictive Amendment Procedures," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 287-335, Fall.
    22. Breton, Albert, 1987. "Towards a theory of competitive federalism," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 3(1-2), pages 263-329.
    23. Henderson, P D, 1977. "Two British Errors: Their Probable Size and Some Possible Lessons," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(2), pages 159-205, July.
    24. Robin Boadway & Michael Keen, 1996. "Efficiency and the optimal direction of federal-state transfers," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 3(2), pages 137-155, May.
    25. Strumpf, Koleman S, 2002. "Does Government Decentralization Increase Policy Innovation?," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 4(2), pages 207-241.
    26. Weingast, Barry R., 2009. "Second generation fiscal federalism: The implications of fiscal incentives," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 279-293, May.
    27. Brian Knight, 2002. "Endogenous Federal Grants and Crowd-out of State Government Spending: Theory and Evidence from the Federal Highway Aid Program," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 71-92, March.
    28. Fedeli, Silvia & Forte, Francesco & Leonida, Leone, 2014. "The law of survival of the political class: An analysis of the Italian parliament (1946–2013)," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 102-121.
    29. Oates, Wallace E., 2008. "On the Evolution of Fiscal Federalism: Theory and Institutions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 61(2), pages 313-334, June.
    30. James M. Buchanan & Richard A. Musgrave, 1999. "Public Finance and Public Choice: Two Contrasting Visions of the State," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262024624, December.
    31. Banful, Afua Branoah, 2011. "Do formula-based intergovernmental transfer mechanisms eliminate politically motivated targeting? Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 380-390, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ana B. Ania & Andreas Wagener, 2021. "Laboratory federalism with public funds sharing," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(3), pages 1047-1065, July.
    2. Volker Britz & Hans Gersbach, 2014. "Experimentation in Democratic Mechanisms," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 14/199, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    3. Hefeker, Carsten & Neugart, Michael, 2018. "Non-cooperative and cooperative policy reforms under uncertainty and spillovers," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 94-102.
    4. Gonschorek, Gerrit J. & Schulze, Günther G. & Sjahrir, Bambang Suharnoko, 2018. "To the ones in need or the ones you need? The political economy of central discretionary grants − empirical evidence from Indonesia," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 240-260.
    5. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld & Jan Schnellenbach, 2014. "Fiscal Federalism, Decentralization and Economic Growth: Survey and Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 4985, CESifo.
    6. Johannes Becker & Ronald B. Davies, 2015. "Learning to Tax ?- Interjurisdictional Tax Competition under Incomplete Information," Working Papers 201519, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    7. Garzarelli, Giampaolo, 2018. "Internal Organization in a Public Theory of the Firm: Toward a Coase-Oates Federalism Nexus," MPRA Paper 86955, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Volker Britz & Hans Gersbach, 2020. "Information sharing in democratic mechanisms," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 49(2), pages 547-577, June.
    9. Jean-François Brun & Tiangboho Sanogo, 2017. "Effect of central transfers on municipalities' own revenue mobilization: Do conflict and local revenue management matter?," CERDI Working papers halshs-01613108, HAL.
    10. Lars P. Feld & Horst Zimmermann & Thomas Döring, 2003. "Föderalismus, Dezentralität und Wirtschaftswachstum," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 72(3), pages 361-377.
    11. Tinghua Yu, 2021. "Intrinsic Motivation, Office Incentives, and Innovation," BCAM Working Papers 2106, Birkbeck Centre for Applied Macroeconomics.
    12. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld & Jan Schnellenbach, 2016. "Fiscal Federalism, Decentralization, And Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1445-1463, July.
    13. John Ashworth & Emma Galli & Fabio Padovano, 2013. "Decentralization as a constraint to Leviathan: a panel cointegration analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 491-516, September.
    14. Arifovic, Jasmina & Karaivanov, Alexander, 2010. "Learning by doing vs. learning from others in a principal-agent model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1967-1992, October.
    15. Lars P. Feld, 2006. "Regulatory Competition and Federalism in Switzerland: Diffusion by Horizontal and Vertical Interaction," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-22, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    16. Chen, Xiaodong & Mi, Haoming & Zhou, Peng, 2023. "Whether to decentralize and how to decentralize? The optimal fiscal federalism in an endogenous growth model," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2023/11, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    17. Hefeker Carsten, 2019. "Helping with the Homework: Support Mechanisms for Uncertain Reforms in a Monetary Union," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(5-6), pages 983-1004, October.
    18. Lucie Gadenne, 2017. "Tax Me, but Spend Wisely? Sources of Public Finance and Government Accountability," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 274-314, January.
    19. Christos Kotsogiannis & Robert Schwager, 2005. "Policy Innovation In Federal Systems," Urban/Regional 0504001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Markus Reischmann, 2016. "Empirical Studies on Public Debt and Fiscal Transfers," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 63.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal institutional design through political compromise; Incentives in laboratory federalism; Intergovernmental grant conditionality; Policy innovation through trial and error; Policy experimentation space.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:saq:wpaper:8/16. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Pierluigi Montalbano (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dtrosit.html .

    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.