The ability of a nation to finance its basic infrastructure is essential to its economic well-being in the 21st century. This second edition of State and Local Financial Instruments covers the municipal securities market in the United States from the perspective of its primary capital financing role in a fiscal federalist system, where subnational governments are responsible for financing the nation's essential physical infrastructure. Using the latest financial research, the authors use data-driven analysis to inform current public policy debates regarding the future of subnational government debt finance. The theories, research and practical examples in the book illustrate the policies and practices that helped governments navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, the Financial Crisis and Great Recession, and that contributed to government shipwrecks. The book is designed to help officials make good, sound fiscal choices in a fast changing, complex financial world entwined in a network of intermediaries, and within the constraints imposed by fiscal rules and institutions. This updated edition will be of interest to academics, students and researchers interested in economics, finance, international studies and public administration and policy. It is also an excellent reference tool for government officials, public policymakers and professionals working in finance.

Public private partnerships (PPPs) have been a controversial approach to procuring public infrastructure services. Against a background of recent trenchant criticism of PPPs, Mervyn K. Lewis, a leading scholar in the area, re-examines their utility. He questions what PPPs can and cannot do, why governments choose this route and whether PPPs can ever be good value for money. The author analyses the extensive use of PPPs for hospitals and transport megaprojects and outlines the key challenges to implementing them, shaping the future direction of the PPP model. Exploring the psychological influences on decision-making, the book also puts a new focus on the people delivering the project; it is not only a matter of selecting the right model. Professor Lewis concludes that, although the PPP model remains problematic, if chosen appropriately every procurement approach has its place in good policy. Providing an in-depth exploration of the features of PPPs and the complexities of megaprojects, Rethinking Public Private Partnerships will be of considerable interest to academics and students of public policy, economic regulation and governance, and public finance. Its re-assessment of the field will also prove invaluable for government procurers, advisory firms and PPP experts.

This reprinted edition of a classic and truly seminal book, written by one of the leading thinkers in the field, represents the first comprehensive treatment of the economic theory of multi-level government. It explores the specific economic roles of the various levels of government, the assignment of different forms of taxation to central, state (provincial), and local governments, and the fiscal links between tiers of government provided by intergovernmental grants. This reprinted edition includes a new preface that briefly describes the origins of the book and comments on the evolution of the theory and practice of fiscal federalism since its original publication. The primary interest in the book will come from scholars and graduate students interested in multi-level public finance and public economics.

Although the concept of international public goods has been established, new international public needs arise by the day. For example, while there are many taxation problems and debates that have not yet been resolved internationally, many new tax-related problems like international transfer pricing, taxation of virtual profits, and taxation of electronic commerce are being added. These issues require studies that will discuss a new agenda and propose solutions for these dilemmas and problems. Global Challenges in Public Finance and International Relations provides an innovative and systematic examination of the present international financial events and institutions, international financial relations, and fiscal difficulties and dilemmas in order to discuss solutions for potential problems in the postmodern world. Highlighting topics such as international aid, public debt, and corporate governance, this publication is designed for executives, academicians, researchers, and students of public finance.

The Price of Climate Change: Sustainable Financial Mechanisms presents a summary of the effects of global warming with specific emphasis on what these phenomena will cost and the price we must pay for trying to mitigate these processes. Some of these mitigation strategies include reducing our use of carbon by converting to non-carbon energy sources such as solar, wind, and nuclear, or lower-carbon sources such as natural gas. The book examines the financial implications of society adapting to the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and desertification. Further, it addresses the costs to make buildings more resilient to climate change, such as flood considerations, improving durability against severe weather, bolstering insulation, and more. Sources of funding for any type of environmental projects, including those for climate change mitigation, are also examined. These include governmental budgets at the federal, state, and local levels, international development banks, international capital markets, and private funds. Features: Addresses global climate change issues from the standpoints of mitigation, adaptation, and resilience and the funding mechanisms for each. Describes different types of energy sources as well as their respective costs, including nuclear, solar, natural gas, and more. Examines the effects of agriculture on climate change as well as the potential ways it can be used to help mitigate the issue. The book's straightforward approach will serve as a useful guide and reference for practicing professionals and can also be appreciated by the general public interested in climate change issues and mitigation strategies.

Financial measurement can be difficult, especially in the public sector where accurate and reliable reporting is imperative for public trust, legality, accountability, and long-term sustainability of activities. Measurement in Public Sector Financial Reporting brings together theoretical arguments and empirical evidence to fuel the debate on measurement approaches in public sector financial reporting. Understanding that various dimensions of value need to be explored in order to reveal methods for providing a more comprehensive public sector view, Measurement in Public Sector Financial Reporting presents a constructive and thoughtful analysis of possible valuation methodologies for the public sector context and related peculiarities and critical issues. The chapters consider both theory and practice, providing a holistic showcase for both practitioner and academic viewpoints. The authors develop discussions and consolidate knowledge, providing a substantial contribution to an international debate. This second volume of Emerald Studies in Public Service Accounting and Accountability recognises the unique characteristics of public sector assets, liabilities, and the other elements of financial statements. The views presented in the chapters make the contents useful for those who are involved, interested in, or responsible for the preparation of public sector financial reporting and related standards.

Richard Musgrave is one of the most eminent public finance economists of our time. In this third volume of essays, Professor Musgrave once more takes a broad view of fiscal institutions, their nature and functions. Traditions of fiscal theory and their impact on the author's work are discussed and their linkage to theories of the state and of distributive justice are examined. Selected topics include: the foundations of public finance, equity in taxation, tax reform, federalism and budget growth. Public Finance in a Democratic Society will be of interest to scholars and students of public finance, political economy and public policy.

How do public spaces generate accountability and advance social equity? Stimulating the conversation, the articles in this volume explore the creation of meaning, the increasing confrontation between regulators and the community they are purported to serve, and the prevalent conflicts in seeking a balancing of social and economic interests. How are communities served in hospitals and schools by accounting standards and administrators? Are shareholders protected from managers' opportunistic behaviors? How is professional status supported or denied for women in Columbia and other regions of the globe? Accounting's role in producing worldviews, creating visibilities and in impacting our quality of life stimulates our engagement in these significant issues, reinvigorating what it means to provide accountability. We follow the legacy of public interest and critical accounting research in this volume, uncovering the discipline's relationship to power and symbolism and its impact on our security and well-being as a challenge to conventional accounting.

Since the 1970s, globalization has created an economic environment of interdependency between nations. Now, many countries in European and the MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa) regions must grapple with the need to increase public revenue while maneuvering through a global "race-to-the-bottom" tax competition. The Handbook of Research on Public Finance in Europe and the MENA Region explores economic development and public finance by providing critical insight to the use of public finance and policy and illuminating the intricacies of these topics through discussion of theory, empirical work, and policy objectives. This book is ideally designed for business professionals, policy makers, financers, students and researchers in the fields of public policy and economics.

With the introduction of new market-oriented approaches to infrastructure finance policy decision-making in the national and subnational public sectors, there is a greater emphasis on the need for resource efficiency in the delivery of public services. There is also a critical need to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of infrastructure finance policy implementation. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) bring an agility and fresh perspective to the financing and delivery of public goods and services, and allow for a higher level of creativity, innovation, and flexibility during times of dynamic change and high demand for responsive solutions. By introducing a comprehensive new lens through which to view infrastructure finance policy as an instrument capable of achieving long-term national and subnational policy objectives, this study offers a unique insight into the potential benefits of the adoption of PPPs within the context of long-term capital investment planning. Through the examination of case studies from the United States, Albania and Mauritius, the author presents a transparent and integrated analysis of the role of PPPs as a policy option within this context. By demonstrating how PPPs can be utilized as a means of efficiently financing and delivering capital infrastructure projects within unified and comprehensive capital management and budgeting systems, this book is essential reading for researchers, policy decision-makers and students of public policy, capital budgeting and infrastructure finance.

Global forces and accountability once again converge in this volume, illustrating the significant and multifaceted nature of the role of accounting in societies. The accounting discipline in its numbers, its silences, its privileging of select classifications over others, it is continually constructing knowledge, cultivates meaning, and impacts public policy in the intersection of socio-political-economic realms. The research in this volume responds to calls for examining accounting as an interdisciplinary role in neoliberal governance by examining migration, race, gender, class and the creation of the 'other'. Each paper uniquely contributes toward significantly exploring accounting's role in disenfranchising populations while identifying participants actualized and potential role in emancipatory struggles. By recognizing marginalized groups embedded power rather than casting them as victims, the authors reject an inevitability of widening inequalities and forms of violence to world populations. Rather these critical accounting researchers seriously tackle the task of transformation, providing pathways for thinking differently and aspiring for change.

What would Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Truman, and Eisenhower have done about today's federal debt crisis?America's Fiscal Constitution tells the remarkable story of fiscal heroes who imposed clear limits on the use of federal debt, limits that for two centuries were part of an unwritten constitution. Those national leaders borrowed only for extraordinary purposes and relied on well-defined budget practices to balance federal spending and revenues. That traditional fiscal constitution collapsed in 2001. Afterward,for the first time in history,federal elected officials cut taxes during war, funded permanent new programs entirely with debt, grew dependent on foreign creditors, and claimed that the economy could not thrive without routine federal borrowing.For most of the nation's history, conservatives fought to restrain the growth of government by insisting that new programs be paid for with taxation, while progressives sought to preserve opportunities for people on the way up by balancing budgets. Virtually all mainstream politicians recognized that excessive debt could jeopardize private investment and national independence.With original scholarship and the benefit of experience in finance and public service, Bill White dispels common budget myths and distills practical lessons from the nation's five previous spikes in debt. America's Fiscal Constitution offers an objective and hopeful guide for people trying to make sense of the nation's current, most severe, debt crisis and its impact on their lives and our future.