This key volume explores how party and campaign finance in post-communist countries have influenced the development of the party system. Based on an analysis of nine case studies, the work examines how the implementation of public finance affects the pattern of party competition and the role of money in elections. One of the lessons from the post-communist experience is that, no matter how well-designed, public finance systems are subject to constant revision as parties, politicians and business elites exploit loopholes which can undermine the integrity of the entire system. Party and campaign finance systems must therefore be considered in a larger discussion involving party regulation and electoral rules.

Proposals to introduce broad based consumption taxes have prompted considerable political controversy and conflict in recent decades. This book explores the politics of consumption tax reform in the four countries where the political resistance to such policies has been most acute: Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. Using an institutional approach, the analysis in this book is animated by contemporary theoretical debates. These concern the dynamics of institutional and policy change and the roles of economic forces, policy ideas and political actors in this process. The author provides an overview of existing approaches to tax policy analysis, as well as a synopsis of existing debates within institutional theory. Taxing Reforms will appeal to academics in the fields of public policy, political economy and public finance, as well as graduate and undergraduate students in policy analysis and public finance. The book will also be of interest to tax policy analysts both in government and non-government organisations and think tanks with an interest in tax policy.

The subnational dimension of infrastructure has emerged as one of the greatest challenges in contemporary public finance policy and management. Ensuring the efficient provision of infrastructure represents a challenge for all countries irrespective of their level of centralization or decentralization. This book proposes an innovative approach for the strengthening of decentralized public investment and infrastructure management. Decentralization and Infrastructure in the Global Economy: From Gaps to Solutions covers the most important aspects of infrastructure investment in a decentralized setting. It discusses infrastructure gaps and the quality of subnational spending; how functional responsibilities, financing and equalization can be designed; sector-specific arrangements in high expenditure areas, such as health, education and roads; key steps of the public investment cycle and management; and analyses the political economy and corruption challenges that typically accompany decentralized infrastructure projects. This book challenges some of the well-accepted principles of intergovernmental fiscal relations and will be useful to researchers and practitioners of public finance policy and management.

The intergovernmental fiscal issue is highly relevant given the worldwide movement toward more decentralized governance in both industrial and developing countries. Over the course of five decades Japan has developed a robust system of decentralized governance. This book investigates fiscal decentralization and local finance in Japan with a view to understanding how the process of decentralization has unfolded there and what the rest of the world can learn. The author sheds light on the drives leading up to a need for decentralization reform over the last decade and evaluates so-called 'Trinity Reform' implemented by the Koizumi administration during 2004-2006. Finally, the book considers the decentralization process in Asian developing countries and discusses what lessons might be drawn from Japanese experiences. This excellent study of an important subject area will be particularly useful for all those studying intergovernmental fiscal relations, public finance and public sector economics. It will also be of interest to specialist international organizations and policy makers who are involved in intergovernmental issues.

This book reflects the futuristic scientific view of the consequences of transition to Industry 4.0 for climate change. The authors present a systemic overview of the current negative consequences of digitization for the environment, new outlines of the energy sphere in Industry 4.0 and the change of the environment pollution level in Industry 4.0. The book also analyses the ecological consequences of growth and development of Industry 4.0, and considers Industry 4.0 as an alternative to fighting climate change. The book presents a view on fighting climate change in Industry 4.0 from the positions of shifting the global community's attention from environment protection to formation of the digital economy. A logical continuation of this book is a view from the opposite side, which would allow reflecting the contribution of Industry 4.0 into fighting climate change and the perspectives of harmonization of these top-priority directions of the global economy's development. This book will be of interest to academics and practitioners interested in climate change and development of Industry 4.0, as well contributing to a national economic policy for fighting climate change and corporate strategies of sustainable development in Industry 4.0.

In all highly industrialized countries public expenditures are a substantial and growing share of total economic activity. The authors integrate normative and positive theory and empirical analysis of public expenditure, concentrating on the optimal provision of public goods and the estimation of their costs and effects. This volume emphasizes the techniques that are available for reaching collective decisions about the provision of public goods and stresses the importance of income distribution and intergovernmental fiscal relations. In a mixed economy, where the public sector is growing faster than the private sector, the nature of public expenditures must be closely evaluated and studied. This book is designed to focus on and delineate controversies about public expenditure--to define what it is, analyze its function, show how it operates, and finally to evaluate research on this important subject.

The book considers the theories of leading economists (Kenneth Arrow, Lionel Robbins, Carl Shoup, James Buchanan, Paul Samuelson, Richard Musgrave, and others) in arriving at a clear statement of theory in its application to operational problems. Appropriate attention is paid to current techniques such as program budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, and the analysis of the determinants of public expenditure. The book is unique in its emphasis on the integration and critique of contemporary theories of public expenditure, of distributional concerns, and of the political framework of public expenditure decisions. It provides a necessary resource for professional economists required to deal with public expenditure problems in research or practice.

Revenue and expenditure forecasting plays an important role in public budgeting and financial management, particularly during times of financial constraint, when citizens impose greater accountability upon government to use taxpayer dollars more efficiently. Despite its significance, revenue and expenditure forecasting is often overlooked in the budget process, and there is an imbalance between practice and research in this area. Based on the collaboration of budget scholars and practitioners, Government Budget Forecasting fulfills two purposes- Enhances the understanding of revenue and expenditure estimation both theoretically and practically Stimulates dialogue and debate among practitioners and academicians to identify good forecast practices as well as areas for improvement

Divided into four parts, this comprehensive reference first examines forecast practices at the federal, state, and local levels, utilizing case studies that include California, Texas, and Louisiana. It then explores consensus systems and risk assessment, considering political factors and the costs of forecast errors. The text concludes with a call to transparency and guidance from a code of ethics, and a look at forecasting practices in emerging countries.

This two volume set includes the most influential writings on international debt. In addition to essential early material, the editors have assembled the key contributions written during the unfolding of the modern international debt drama from the early 1970s. An introductory chapter by the editors explains the context and order in which the writings are presented. In particular, the individual contributions are grouped under sequential headings which are intended to draw out key themes and relationships between the concerns of the original authors. This collection reflects clearly the interaction between the evolution of the international policy debate and the development of major analytical insights on the debt problem and its resolution.

Contains essays by historians of economic and financial history. It illuminates the relationships between government indebtedness and the development of financial markets in Europe from the late Middle Ages to the late twentieth century.

This book provides a theory capable of explaining the patterns of public expenditures and taxation that occur under representative government. Economists and political scientists have come to realize that issues of public policy and public finance cannot be solved on the naive assumption that these are problems tackled by a government that exists only to serve the public good. Instead, government must be understood as one of the major economic institutions of society, one that behaves like more familiar economic institutions--the household and the firm--though the market it confronts is a market for policies rather than for goods and services. Albert Breton's pathbreaking work remains important in taking us toward a theory of representative government that enables an understanding of the observed behavior of political institutions.

The author's analysis is cast in a relatively simple demand, supply and demand-supply-equilibrium framework, using the tools of marginal and stability analysis to explain the forces that influence and determine the flow of resources as they are allocated between competing ends in the public sector. The book presents a model of demand by citizens, who are assumed to be maximizing their desires for specific public policies and private goods, and a model of the supply of public policies by politicians and bureaucrats, who are assumed to be maximizing the probability of their re-election and the size of their budgets. Breton defines government policies and the institutional framework for collective choices in terms that render them amenable to further analysis.

The main accomplishment of Breton's theory is that it provides the ability to analyze the interaction of individuals and generates testable propositions about the behavior of these individuals as well as about the behavior of public expenditures and taxation in more aggregative terms. In this way the book will be useful to students of economics, economists, and those interested in economic theory.

"Albert Breton" is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Toronto. He was once director of research for The Social Research Group in Montreal. His articles have been widely published in major journals and some of his recent books include "Rational Foundations of Democratic Politics" and "Political Extremism and Rationality" (with Gianluigi Galeotti, Pierre Salmon, and Ronald Wintrobe) and "Bijuralism: An Economic Approach" (with Michael J. Trebilcock).

Some of the best writings on public budgeting and finance can be found in the journals that ASPA publishes or sponsors. For this volume editor Irene Rubin has brought together the best of these articles - emerging classics that address the most important theoretical and practical problems underlying public budgeting.The anthology is organized topically rather than historically, with an effort to delineate the issues needed to understand some of the more recent controversies in the field. Rubin's introductory essay and section openers frame the key issues and provide historical context for each article. The collection begins with descriptions of what public budgeting is, where it comes from, and what it is for. It moves on to the relationship between budget processes and outcomes, constraints on budgeting, the legal context in which it operates, and adaptations to those constraints such as contracting out.The book concludes with a discussion of the ethics and norms that underlie budgeting in a democracy. Throughout the anthology, the emphasis is on areas of disagreement and debate, so students can get involved and explore different viewpoints.

This insightful book focuses on the role of fiscal policy in common markets, especially in the context of the supranational constructs in the Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. It draws on the experience of the EU and the importance of VAT, and reflects on the other main common market in Central America. Although oil windfalls have opened a window of opportunity for the Gulf States, at the same time they have created numerous problems. In particular, the uncertainty associated with periods of boom and bust in the oil market has made the formulation and implementation of sound fiscal policies a formidable task. In this study, the distinguished authors present the background to current fiscal reforms and address the critical challenges facing the Gulf States including the choice between consumption and saving (or current needs and future requirements); intra-generational equity issues; the pro-cyclicality of fiscal policy; fiscal sustainability and the prudent management of revenues from finite oil reserves. They examine the case for VAT to substantially replace customs duties, a significant source of non-oil revenue which would be lost as a result of free trade agreements between the GCC and key trading partners. They also demonstrate how an agreed design for VAT would assist in furthering economic integration, and enhance trade and exports. If properly sequenced, VAT would have a negligible impact on both inflation and the poor, and would be progressive in relation to the customs duties replaced. This highly topical book will be of great interest to academics specializing in public sector economics and public finance, and to national and international policymakers involved in fiscal reform.

From a giant of health care policy, an engaging and enlightening account of why American health care is so expensive-and why it doesn't have to be Uwe Reinhardt was a towering figure and moral conscience of health care policy in the United States and beyond. Famously bipartisan, he advised presidents and Congress on health reform and originated central features of the Affordable Care Act. In Priced Out, Reinhardt offers an engaging and enlightening account of the U.S. health care system, explaining why it costs so much more and delivers so much less than the systems of every other advanced country, why this situation is morally indefensible, and how we might improve it. Drawing on the best evidence, he guides readers through the chaotic, secretive, and inefficient way America pays for health care, dispelling the confusion, ignorance, myths, and misinformation that hinder effective reform.

Providing an in-depth case study of a highly successful public-private partnership, this book offers valuable insights for privatizing an existing public service. A mix of theory and empirical analysis, the study initially creates and explains a model for the Privatization Transfer Process, which serves as a guide for contracting out services. Drawing on the experience of the Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority when it privatized toll road operations, the book traces the steps taken through the initial decision to privatize, the creation of the Request for Proposal, and the review and rating of three bidder responses. It then follows the awarding of the bid to the Florida Toll Services and the transition from public to private control.

The book also considers technical and pricing concerns as well as issues pertaining to contract management. In conclusion, it evaluates the entire effort. By offering a detailed analysis of a very successful privatization experience, the book provides a useful tool for those concerned with privatization issues.

This book is about how much people earn and why the distribution of earnings has been changing over time. The gap between the top and bottom in the United States has widened significantly since 1980. Why has this happened? Is it due to new technologies? What is the role of globalisation? Are there historical precedents?
The book begins with the "race" between technology and education, and shows that continuing technical progress does not necessarily imply a continuing rise in dispersion. It then examines the experience of 20 OECD countries over the twentieth century, material presented in the form of 20 country case studies. The book breaks new ground in assembling data on the distribution of individual earnings covering much of the twentieth century and drawing on a variety of under-exploited sources.
The findings overturn a number of widely-held beliefs. It is not the earnings of the low paid that have been most affected by the recent changes; widening is largely due to what is happening at the top. The recent rise in earnings dispersion is not unprecedented, but should be seen as part of a longer-run history of successive compression and expansion of earnings differences.

China's stunning record of economic development since the 1970s has been marred by an increasingly obvious gap between the country's 'haves' and its 'have-nots'. While people living in some parts of the country have enjoyed dramatically improved conditions of life, those in other districts and regions have slipped ever further behind in terms of access to health, wealth, education, security and opportunity.

Paying for Progress in China is a collection of essays which trace the causes of this growing inequality, using new data including surveys, interviews, newly available official statistics and in-depth fieldwork. Their findings expose the malfunctioning of China's 'broken' intergovernmental fiscal system, which has exacerbated the disequalizing effects of emerging market forces. Whilst the government's deliberately 'pro-poor' development policies have in recent years sought to reduce the gap between rich and poor, both markets, and also state institutions and policies, are continuing to create perverse equity outcomes across the country, confounding hopes for better-balanced and more inclusive growth in China.

The interdisciplinary approach of this collection, incorporating work by economists, sociologists and political scientists, makes it a valuable resource for students of contemporary Chinese political economy and social development.

The economic demands of an ageing population, coupled with the crisis of public spending pose one of the greatest challenges to social policy in both the East and West. This book focuses on the political economy of pensions, particularly on the interaction between private and state provision. Enterprise and the Welfare State argues that there is more to welfare than simply provision by the state and so the focus of this book is on the welfare society rather than the welfare state. This requires a new system of statistical accounting and a different focus for case studies. A multidisciplinary approach is used to examine the design of the pensions system in nine countries with different institutional welfare mixes. Using a common conceptual framework, it compares and contrasts the goals and realities of the welfare systems in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden, where strong occupational pensions are in operation, with the more modest welfare states in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each country case study provides a grounded analysis of the evolution of pension design and traces the impact of the policies on the economic well-being of the aged and the performance of the economy. It offers new data on the level of spending of enterprise based occupational pensions and examines the implications for redistribution resulting from changes in the design of state and occupational pensions. This book will be essential reading for academics, students and public policymakers interested in the economics of welfare, social policy and the future of pension provision.

This insightful book examines the necessary conditions for the successful initiation and consolidation of unpopular economic reforms. Drawing on the burgeoning literature in the area of policy reform, it features a comparative analysis of fiscal reform in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic at different stages of the post-communist transformation. This analysis demonstrates that a significant number of the national differences in fiscal reform can be attributed to differences in political constraints. It also reveals that these very constraints change in the course of transformation and have become increasingly similar to the 'standard' restrictions which exist in the traditional EU and OECD countries. This in-depth analysis of the changing role of political determinants in post-communist fiscal reform will strongly appeal to economists and political scientists interested in the political economy of policy reform, post-communist economic transformation and the role of international organizations (IMF, EU) in shaping domestic policy-making. Policy analysts interested in fiscal reform in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic will also find much to interest them in this book.

Fiscal policy has always been a primary measure of macroeconomic control. The fiscal revenue and expenditure can influence the operation of the whole economic and social activities by changing the existing GDP distribution pattern, affecting the consumption and investment of enterprises and people, etc. Within the framework of macroeconomic analysis, this book reviews the evolution of China's fiscal policy, and the main changes China's economy has experienced since 1990s. To begin with, it makes an empirical research of China's national debts, including their relationship with macroeconomic regulation and total social demand. Besides, it examines the economic effect mechanism of national debts issuance. Then it focuses on the taxation issues, elucidating the sources of tax revenue growth and the judgments on tax burden. The issue of tax reduction is also covered, especially its complexity in China. Lastly, it provides insights into China's fiscal tendency, changes of macroeconomic policies, and financial operation in the context of the "New Normal". Scholars and students in economics, finance and Chinese economic studies will be attracted by this book. Also, it will appeal to readers interested in modern Chinese economic history.

The Learning Annex Presents Small Business Basics
If you're a small business owner, you probably dedicate the majority of your time to the day-to-day activities that keep your company up and running. After all, why should you have to worry about taxes or other financial issues when you can hire someone else to handle them? The answer is simple: you, not your accountant or financial advisor, run the business. And if you truly want to be successful, you need to understand how your actions in business today can affect your bottom line tomorrow.
If you want to make more tax-efficient financial decisions for your business, The Learning Annex Presents Small Business Basics can show you how. This accessible guide provides useful and authoritative advice that will help you save time and money throughout the year.
Topics discussed include:
* Organizing your business--from S Corporations and C Corporations to Sole Proprietorships and Limited Liability Companies
* Income and losses--from business operations to the sale of business property
* Business deductions and credits--from home office deductions and advertising expenses to rent and retirement plans

As a small business owner, each decision you make is important. With The Learning Annex Presents Small Business Basics as your guide, you'll quickly discover how to make tax-savvy decisions that will improve your overall business.

The book brings together internationally respected specialists from economics, history and political science such as Harold James, Louis Pauly and Kenneth Moure. First providing a short history of money doctors, the book then goes on to cover such themes as:
*the IMF and policy advice
*the Russian experience
*contemporary money doctors.
The book shows that there is still a long way to go before international financial advice develops into something that is truly helpful in the long term.

"Sensible Tax Reform Simple, Just and Effective" ("STR") offers a truly revolutionary approach to tax reform.
-Businesses will be untaxed. -Social Security and Medicare will receive much stronger financial backing.-Most individuals will no longer pay any income taxes. -Estates will no longer be taxed. -A simple broad-based federal consumption tax will be introduced as the foundation of our tax system. -The consumption tax will apply to most expenditures by individuals but will provide critical buffers to ease the impact upon healthcare, housing, transportation, and higher education. -STR" will replace the existing tax mess we all hate with a simple, just, and economically dynamic tax system that will reinvigorate American businesses, greatly increase the real income and purchasing power of most Americans, and stabilize the finances of the federal government."