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To fragment or to consolidate jurisdictions: the optimal architecture of government

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  • Rui Nuno Baleiras

Abstract

Fiscal decentralisation is a hot issue worldwide. Within the European Union, there are even opposing tendencies with respect to the assignment of responsibilities between government tiers. This is a textbook paper aiming to provide a pedagogic introduction to the economics of government formation. Government size and district boundaries are endogenously set. Through a unified diagrammatic framework, the paper stresses the impact many politico-economic factors are likely to exert upon those endogenous variables. The list includes heterogeneity in demand for and supply of local public goods, cost sharing, scale economies, interjurisdictional spillovers, mobility of consumer-voters, congestion degrees, governance costs, and second-best finance. The analysis thus provides a foundation for a vertical system of multifunction governments very much in the pioneering spirit of Mancur Olson and Wallace Oates.

Suggested Citation

  • Rui Nuno Baleiras, 2001. "To fragment or to consolidate jurisdictions: the optimal architecture of government," Nova SBE Working Paper Series wp401, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp401
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    File URL: https://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/83535/1/WP401.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bardhan, Pranab & Mookherjee, Dilip, 1999. "Relative Capture of Local and Central Governments: An Essay in the Political Economy of Decentralization," Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Working Papers 233624, University of California-Berkeley, Department of Economics.
    2. Olson, Mancur, Jr, 1969. "The Principle of "Fiscal Equivalence": The Division of Responsibilities among Different Levels of Government," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 479-487, May.
    3. James R. Baumgardner, 1993. "Tests of Median Voter and Political Support Maximization Models: the Case of Federal/State Welfare Programs," Public Finance Review, , vol. 21(1), pages 48-83, January.
    4. Hochman, Oded & Pines, David & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1995. "On the Optimal Structure of Local Governments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1224-1240, December.
    5. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64, pages 416-416.
    6. Krueger, Anne O, 1974. "The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 291-303, June.
    7. Dougan, William R & Kenyon, Daphne A, 1988. "Pressure Groups and Public Expenditures: The Flypaper Effect Reconsidered," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(1), pages 159-170, January.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe K. Widmer & George Elias & Peter Zweifel, 2012. "Improving efficiency through consolidation of jurisdictions? Evidence from the cantons of Switzerland," ECON - Working Papers 085, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    2. Juan Luis Gómez-Reino & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2021. "Evidence on Economies of Scale in Local Public Service Provision: A Meta-Analysis," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper2116, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    3. Mototsugu Fukushige & Yingxin Shi, 2015. "Efficient scale of prefectural government in China," China Finance and Economic Review, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Mototsugu Fukushige & Yingxin Shi, 2014. "Efficient Scale of Local Government in China: Quantile Regression Approach to County-Level Data," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 14-15, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal federalism; clubs; government size; correspondence principle; governance costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General

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