IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tul/wpaper/1610.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Growth, Inflation, and Inequality in the Americas

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio N. Bojanic

    (Department of Economics, Tulane University)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth, the inflation rate, and the GINI coefficient in eleven American countries. The findings suggest that the expected positive impacts of this process have been modest, with revenue decentralization being more effective at preventing inflation, and expenditure decentralization showing greater tendency to positively influence growth. The flipside of these findings is that in the full sample of countries revenue decentralization deters growth while expenditure decentralization seems to foster inflation. With regards to the impact on the GINI coefficient, fiscal decentralization seems to be, at best, a marginal, negative influence on income distribution. The main recommendation is that American nations should pause and analyze the reasons why this process of fiscal devolution of responsibilities has not delivered on its promise of greater growth, price stability, and less income inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio N. Bojanic, 2016. "The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Growth, Inflation, and Inequality in the Americas," Working Papers 1610, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tul:wpaper:1610
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.tulane.edu/RePEc/pdf/tul1610.pdf
    File Function: First Version, August 2016
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. -, 2018. "CEPAL Review no. 124," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    2. 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.
    3. Jorge Martínez Vázquez & Robert M. McNab, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization, macrostability and growth," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 179(4), pages 25-49, September.
    4. Oates, Wallace E., 1993. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Development," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 46(2), pages 237-43, June.
    5. Tarkan Cavusoglu & Oguzhan Dincer, 2015. "Does decentralization reduce income inequality? Only in rich states," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(1), pages 285-306, July.
    6. Neyapti, Bilin, 2004. "Fiscal decentralization, central bank independence and inflation: a panel investigation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 227-230, February.
    7. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Ismael Sanz, 2013. "Fiscal Decentralization And Economic Growth: Spending Versus Revenue Decentralization," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(4), pages 1915-1931, October.
    8. Caroline-Antonia Goerl & Mr. Mike Seiferling, 2014. "Income Inequality, Fiscal Decentralization and Transfer Dependency," IMF Working Papers 2014/064, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Wallace E. Oates & Wallace E. Oates, 2004. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Development," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 21, pages 377-383, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Francisco Rodríguez & Dani Rodrik, 2001. "Trade Policy and Economic Growth: A Skeptic's Guide to the Cross-National Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000, Volume 15, pages 261-338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Hossein Askari & Zamir Iqbal & Abbas Mirakhor, 2014. "Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Islam," Palgrave Studies in Islamic Banking, Finance and Economics, in: Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation, chapter 0, pages 109-134, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Agnese Sacchi & Simone Salotti, 2014. "The Effects of Fiscal Decentralization on Household Income Inequality: Some Empirical Evidence," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 202-222, June.
    13. Justin Yifu Lin & Zhiqiang Liu, 2000. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(1), pages 1-21.
    14. Treisman, Daniel, 2000. "Decentralization and Inflation: Commitment, Collective Action, or Continuity?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 94(4), pages 837-857, December.
    15. Davoodi, Hamid & Zou, Heng-fu, 1998. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Study," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 244-257, March.
    16. Brueckner, Jan K., 2006. "Fiscal federalism and economic growth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(10-11), pages 2107-2120, November.
    17. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & McNab, Robert M., 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1597-1616, September.
    18. Zhang, Tao & Zou, Heng-fu, 1998. "Fiscal decentralization, public spending, and economic growth in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 221-240, February.
    19. Antonio N. Bojanic, 2016. "Fiscal Decentralization, Economic Freedom, and Political and Civil Liberties in the Americas," Working Papers 1609, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    20. Ahmad Zafarullah Abdul Jalil & Mukaramah Harun & Siti Hadijah Che Mat, 2012. "Macroeconomic Instability and Fiscal Decentralization: An Empirical Analysis," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(2), pages 150-165.
    21. repec:wly:soecon:v:82:1:y:2015:p:285-306 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Song, Yang, 2013. "Rising Chinese regional income inequality: The role of fiscal decentralization," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 294-309.
    23. Xie, Danyang & Zou, Heng-fu & Davoodi, Hamid, 1999. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 228-239, March.
    24. Beramendi, Pablo, 2003. "Political institutions and income inequality: The case of decentralization," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Institutions, States, Markets SP II 2003-09, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    25. Francis Amagoh & Aloysius Ajab Amin, 2012. "An Examination of the Impacts of Fiscal Decentralization on Economic Growth," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(6), pages 72-81, November.
    26. Pierre Monnin, 2014. "Inflation and Income Inequality in Developed Economies," Working Papers 1401, Council on Economic Policies.
    27. 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.
    28. Jonathan A. Rodden & Gunnar S. Eskeland (ed.), 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262182297, December.
    29. Rosa Martínez & Luis Ayala & Jesús Ruiz‐Huerta, 2001. "The impact of unemployment on inequality and poverty in OECD countries," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 9(2), pages 417-447, July.
    30. Thornton, John, 2007. "Fiscal decentralization and economic growth reconsidered," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 64-70, January.
    31. Iqbal, Nasir & Nawaz, Saima, 2010. "Fiscal Decentralization and Macroeconomic Stability: Theory and Evidence from Pakistan," MPRA Paper 27184, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    32. Neyapti, Bilin, 2010. "Fiscal decentralization and deficits: International evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 155-166, June.
    33. repec:umd:umdeco:rodriguez9901 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld, 2013. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in OECD Countries," Public Finance Review, , vol. 41(4), pages 421-445, July.
    35. J Benson Durham, 1999. "Econometrics of Income Distribution: Toward More Comprehensive Specification of Institutional Correlates," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 41(1), pages 43-74, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Nadiia Davydenko & Natalia Wasilewska & Svitlana Boiko & Mirosław Wasilewski, 2022. "Development of Rural Areas in Ukraine in the Context of Decentralization: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-26, May.
    2. Imran Hanif & Sally Wallace & Pilar Gago-de-Santos, 2020. "Economic Growth by Means of Fiscal Decentralization: An Empirical Study for Federal Developing Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    3. Emeka Nkoro & Godly Otto, 2023. "Fiscal Federalism and Economic Development in Nigeria: An Econometric Analysis," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 12(1), pages 144-162, May.
    4. Mihaela Onofrei & Florin Oprea & Corneliu Iaţu & Lenuţa Cojocariu & Sorin Gabriel Anton, 2022. "Fiscal Decentralization, Good Governance and Regional Development—Empirical Evidence in the European Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Antonio N. Bojanic & LaPorchia A. Collins, 2021. "Differential effects of decentralization on income inequality: evidence from developed and developing countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1969-2004, April.
    6. Vid Adrison & Masarina Flukeria, 2016. "Lowering Regional Inflation? Improve Budget Absorption," Economics and Finance in Indonesia, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, vol. 62, pages 67-77, August.
    7. Antonio N. Bojanic, 2018. "The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Accountability, Economic Freedom, and Political and Civil Liberties in the Americas," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, February.
    8. Cong Minh Huynh & Hoai Nam Tran, 2021. "Moderating effects of corruption and informality on the fiscal decentralization—economic growth nexus: Insights from OECD countries," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(2), pages 355-373, June.
    9. Philipp Aerni, 2021. "Decentralized Economic Complexity in Switzerland and Its Contribution to Inclusive and Sustainable Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    10. Emeka Nkoro & Godly Otto, 2023. "Fiscal Federalism and Economic Development in Nigeria: An Econometric Analysis," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 12(1), pages 127-145, May.

    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. Antonio N. Bojanic, 2018. "The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Accountability, Economic Freedom, and Political and Civil Liberties in the Americas," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Agnese Sacchi, 2017. "The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1095-1129, September.
    3. Cong Minh Huynh & Hoai Nam Tran, 2021. "Moderating effects of corruption and informality on the fiscal decentralization—economic growth nexus: Insights from OECD countries," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(2), pages 355-373, June.
    4. Pierre Salmon, 2013. "Decentralization and growth: what if the cross-jurisdiction approach had met a dead end?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 87-107, June.
    5. Antonio N. Bojanic, 2016. "Fiscal Decentralization, Economic Freedom, and Political and Civil Liberties in the Americas," Working Papers 1609, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    6. Umaima Arif & Eatzaz Ahmad, 2018. "A Framework For Analyzing The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization On Macroeconomic Performance, Governance And Economic Growth," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(01), pages 3-39, May.
    7. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld & Jan Schnellenbach, 2014. "Fiscal Federalism, Decentralization and Economic Growth: Survey and Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 4985, CESifo.
    8. 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.
    9. Imran Hanif & Sally Wallace & Pilar Gago-de-Santos, 2020. "Economic Growth by Means of Fiscal Decentralization: An Empirical Study for Federal Developing Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    10. Tristan Canare, 2022. "Decentralization and welfare: Evidence from a panel of countries," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(3), pages 767-796, September.
    11. Yushkov, Andrey, 2015. "Fiscal decentralization and regional economic growth: Theory, empirics, and the Russian experience," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 404-418.
    12. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & McNab, Robert M., 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1597-1616, September.
    13. Floriana Cerniglia & Riccarda Longaretti, 2013. "Federalism, education-related public good and growth when agents are heterogeneous," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 271-301, July.
    14. Asatryan, Zareh & Feld, Lars P., 2015. "Revisiting the link between growth and federalism: A Bayesian model averaging approach," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 772-781.
    15. Reingewertz, Yaniv, 2014. "Fiscal Decentralization - a Survey of the Empirical Literature," MPRA Paper 59889, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Alessio Mitra & Athanasios Chymis, 2022. "Federalism, but how? The impact of vertical fiscal imbalance on economic growth. Evidence from Belgium," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 322-350, July.
    17. Canavire-Bacarreza, Gustavo & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Yedgenov, Bauyrzhan, 2020. "Identifying and disentangling the impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    18. Burret, Heiko T. & Feld, Lars P. & Schaltegger, Christoph A., 2022. "Fiscal federalism and economic performance new evidence from Switzerland," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Tristan Canare, 2021. "Decentralization and Development Outcomes: What Does the Empirical Literature Really Say?," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 237(2), pages 111-151, June.
    20. Whitney Buser, 2011. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on economics performance in high-income OECD nations: an institutional approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 31-48, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal decentralization; economic growth; inflation; income inequality.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

    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:tul:wpaper:1610. 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: Kerui Geng (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/detulus.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.