IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v12y1994i2p177-194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Politics of Central—Local Grants in Britain and France

Author

Listed:
  • M Keating

    (Department of Political Science, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, N6A 5C2)

  • A Midwinter

    (Department of Government, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, Scotland)

Abstract

Redistribution of resources through central–local government grant systems is justified as fiscal equalization, the subject of a substantial literature, underpinned by normative assumptions and a rational-synoptic model of the policy process. Goals are known and policy outcomes are measurable. In Britain and France, this approach is not helpful to understanding. Theories of fiscal equalization are problematic and inconsistent. There is no agreed territorial welfare function against which outcomes can be assessed. A politically based interpretation sees grant allocation as part of intergovernmental politics, in which conceptions of fiscal equalization are used largely for legitimation. Politics guides decisionmaking and the main test of policy applied by governments is political acceptability. The two cases of Britain and France do show important differences in intergovernmental politics. In France, change is incremental and negotiated. In Britain it is radical and unilateral, though outcomes often fall short of expectations as policy is modified in implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • M Keating & A Midwinter, 1994. "The Politics of Central—Local Grants in Britain and France," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 12(2), pages 177-194, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:12:y:1994:i:2:p:177-194
    DOI: 10.1068/c120177
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c120177
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c120177?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Le Grand, Julian, 1975. "Fiscal Equity and Central Government Grants to Local Authorities," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 85(339), pages 531-547, September.
    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. Marie-Estelle Binet, 2013. "The Linear Expenditure System and the Demand for Municipal Public Services: The Median Voter Specification Revisited," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1689-1703, July.
    2. Guy Gilbert & Alain Guengant, 2004. "Évaluation de la performance péréquatrice des concours financiers de l'État aux communes," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 373(1), pages 81-108.
    3. Audun Langørgen & Rolf Aaberge, 1999. "A Structural Approach for Measuring Fiscal Disparities," Discussion Papers 254, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    4. Alain Guengant, 1993. "Équité, efficacité et égalisation fiscale territoriale," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 44(4), pages 835-848.
    5. Toolsema-Veldman, Linda & Allers, M.A., 2012. "Welfare financing," Research Report 12004-EEF, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    6. Jhorland Ayala-García & Jaime Bonet-Morón, 2015. "Transferencias intergubernamentales y disparidades fiscales horizontales en Colombia," Documentos de trabajo sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 231, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    7. M G Rao & A Das-Gupta, 1995. "Intergovernmental Transfers and Poverty Alleviation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Jaime Bonet-Morón & Jhorland Ayala-García, 2016. "La brecha fiscal territorial en Colombia," Documentos de trabajo sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 235, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    9. Rune J. Sørensen, 1991. "Local Government Equality: Why Should Disparities be Accepted?," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 3(4), pages 463-477, October.
    10. Audun Langørgen, 2015. "A structural approach for analyzing fiscal equalization," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(3), pages 376-400, June.
    11. Alexander Cappelen & Bertil Tungodden, 2007. "Local autonomy and interregional equality," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 28(3), pages 443-460, April.
    12. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Timofeev, Andrey, 2008. "Regional-local dimension of Russia's fiscal equalization," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 157-176, March.
    13. Linda Toolsema & Maarten Allers, 2014. "Welfare Financing: Grant Allocation and Efficiency," De Economist, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 147-166, June.
    14. Jaime Bonet‐Morón & Jhorland Ayala‐García, 2020. "The territorial fiscal gap in Colombia," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 7-24, February.
    15. Sole-Olle, Albert, 2006. "Expenditure spillovers and fiscal interactions: Empirical evidence from local governments in Spain," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 32-53, January.
    16. Albert Solé-Ollé & Núria Bosch, 2005. "On the Relationship between Authority Size and the Costs of Providing Local Services: Lessons for the Design of Intergovernmental Transfers in Spain," Public Finance Review, , vol. 33(3), pages 343-384, May.
    17. Aisha Ghaus-Pasha & Hafiz A. Pasha & Asma Zubair, 2010. "Fiscal Equalisation among Provinces in the NFC Awards," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 49(4), pages 563-576.
    18. Robert P. Inman & Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 1997. "Rethinking Federalism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 43-64, Fall.
    19. Prasant Kumar Panda, 2009. "Central Fiscal Transfers and States’ Own-Revenue Efforts in India," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 3(3), pages 223-242, July.
    20. repec:dgr:rugsom:12004-eef is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Bischoff, Ivo & Bönisch, Peter & Haug, Peter & Illy, Annette, 2014. "Vertical Grants and Local Public Efficiency," IWH Discussion Papers 1/2013, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2014.

    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:sae:envirc:v:12:y:1994:i:2:p:177-194. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.