IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v22y1996i2p99-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Fiscal Need Approach to Equalization

Author

Listed:
  • Anwar Shah

Abstract

The existing fiscal equalization program in Canada attempts to equalize per capita tax burden alone and completely ignores the expenditure side. This paper examines the consequences of this neglect both conceptually as well as empirically. The paper concludes that a program of equalization that ignores the expenditure side cannot be defended on economic efficiency and equity grounds. Further, such a program might not be consistent with the constituional intent of equalization in Canada. The paper argues that the present system of equalization in Canada could be improved by explicitly recognizing relative expenditure needs of the Canadian provinces in the formula. The paper implements an objective methodology for measuring these needs and provides tentative calculations based on the proposed approach. The paper concludes that a fiscal needs based program of equalization would differ greatly from the present program in terms of its redistributive impact and further that under such a program the tota amount of equalization transfers made by the Federal Government might also be reduced.

Suggested Citation

  • Anwar Shah, 1996. "A Fiscal Need Approach to Equalization," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 22(2), pages 99-115, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:22:y:1996:i:2:p:99-115
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0317-0861%28199606%2922%3A2%3C99%3AAFNATE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y
    Download Restriction: only available to JSTOR subscribers
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anwar M. Chaudry-Shah, 1989. "A Capitalization Approach to Fiscal Incidence at the Local Level," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 65(4), pages 359-375.
    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. Shah, Anwar & Whalley, John, 1990. "An alternative view of tax incidence analysis for developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 462, The World Bank.
    2. Sylvie Charlot & Sonia Paty & Michel Visalli, 2013. "Assessing the impact of local taxation on property prices: a spatial matching contribution," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(9), pages 1151-1166, March.
    3. Shah, Anwar, 1991. "Perspectives on the design of intergovernmental fiscal relations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 726, The World Bank.
    4. Selden, Thomas M. & Wasylenko, Michael J., 1992. "Benefit incidence analysis in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1015, The World Bank.
    5. Douglas A. L. Auld & Lorraine Eden, 1987. "A Comparative Evaluation of Provincial-Local Equalization," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 13(4), pages 515-528, December.
    6. Shah, Anwar & DEC, 1994. "A fiscal needs approach to equalization transfers in a decentralized federation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1289, The World Bank.
    7. Tugrul Gurgur & Anwar Shah, 2014. "Localization and corruption: panacea or pandora's box?," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 15(1), pages 109-136, May.
    8. Shah, Anwar, 1990. "The new fiscal federalism in Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 557, The World Bank.
    9. Sylvie Charlot & Sonia Paty & Michel Visalli, 2008. "Assessing the impact of local taxation on property prices: a spatial matching contribution / Evaluer l'impact de la fiscalité locale sur les prix immobiliers : une contribution de l'appariement spatia," INRA UMR CESAER Working Papers 2008/3, INRA UMR CESAER, Centre d'’Economie et Sociologie appliquées à l'’Agriculture et aux Espaces Ruraux.
    10. Korytin, A.V. (Корытин, А.В.) & Shatalovа, Svetlana Sergeevna (Шаталова, Светлана Сергеевна), 2016. "Improving the Tax Relief on Personal Property [Совершенствование Льгот По Налогу На Имущество Физических Лиц]," Working Papers 2334, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

    More about this item

    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:cpp:issued:v:22:y:1996:i:2:p:99-115. 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: Iver Chong (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    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.