Most countries, developed and developing, are fiscally decentralized with regional and local governments of varying importance. In many of these countries, some of these sub-national governments differ substantially from others in terms of wealth, ethnic, religious, or linguistic composition. This book considers how fiscal arrangements may strengthen or weaken national solidarity and the effectiveness with which public services are provided. In particular, the nation's ability to cope with changes created by decentralization is explored. Through a series of case studies, the countries of Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia, Spain and Switzerland are examined with an eye to how their public finances are structured and how these arrangements act to promote equilibrium or turmoil in the nation state. This is the first detailed consideration of the link between asymmetry and intergovernmental finance, as well as the first detailed study of how asymmetrical fiscal arrangements work in practice in a variety of different countries. Policy analysts concerned with intergovernmental finance and/or political legitimacy issues will find this synthesis of interest, as will readers concerned with the public policy of the many fiscally fragmented countries profiled here.

The papers in this volume review and evaluate the wave of income tax reforms that have taken place in the industrial world over the last five years. The key issues which are singled out include the effect of the income tax on labor supply, the tax unit, the relationship with social security taxes, the taxation of capital income, international issues and the political economy of income taxation. Special attention is given to the choice between income and consumption as the appropriate tax base on efficiency and horizontal equity grounds.

Taxation and Development highlights the importance of better understanding the ways in which taxes and expenditure are linked. Focusing on developing countries, the book argues for a broader approach to the topic, with a secondary focus on developing and applying new modeling techniques to country-specific data.The contributors demonstrate the critical importance of considering tax issues within the specific context of each country, taking into account not only the level and structure of its economic development but also its history, regional location, and political institutions. Individual chapters cover a range of issues both past and present, and offer insightful recommendations for future research and policy implementation. While a great deal of work has been done on the subject in recent decades, this comprehensive book reveals just how much more we have to learn. Taxation and Development will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of economics in general and in particular, taxation, development and public sector economics. Contributors: R. Bahl, R.M. Bird, M.R. Cyan, A. Feltenstein, W.F. Fox, R. Kelly, L. Lopes, Y.N. Madhoo, J. Martinez-Vazquez, T. Matheson, C.E. McLure, Jr., M.N. Murray, S. Nath, V. Perry, J. Porras-Mendoza, P. Smoke, C. Veung, V. Vulovic, S. Wallace, E.M. Zolt

As experience with decentralization has accumulated, perceptions of both the problems that often accompany decentralization and the best ways to deal with them have evolved. This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed, and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. There is no simple or single way to get decentralization right. To be successful, scholars of fiscal decentralization must pay close attention to the unique political, economic, and institutional context and objectives in each country. The authors focus on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money. Bahl and Bird have created a valuable resource for scholars, students, and practitioners from economics, public administration and management, planning, policy analysis, and political science.

Taxes on land and property exist all over the world in many forms and are an important source of finance for local governments. The extent to which local governments have control over property taxes is often an important determinant of their ability to make autonomous expenditure decisions. This comprehensive Handbook explores case studies of land and property taxation in 25 countries (five in each of five regions - OECD, central and eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America), and focuses on the potential contributions of the property tax to the revenues of urban and rural governments and to more efficient land use. Introductory chapters highlight the diversity in the application of land and property taxes among the countries. Major policy alternatives with respect to taxing land and property are discussed, including the choice of tax base, exemptions, methods of determining the tax base, tax rates, differential treatment of different classes of property (such as farms, residences, commercial properties), and the process of tax administration. Other taxes levied on land, such as land transfer taxes, development charges and unearned increment taxes, are also reviewed, as is recent experience with property tax reform in a number of countries. This major reference work will provide a valuable resource and necessary addition to the libraries of government officials, municipal associations, property assessors, international agencies, teachers and students of public finance.

There appears to be an increasing trend in worldwide fiscal decentralization. In particular, many developing countries are turning to various forms of fiscal decentralization as an escape from inefficient and ineffective governance, macroeconomic stability, and inadequate growth. Fiscal Decentralization in Developing Countries: An Overview edited by Professors Bird and Vaillancourt and featuring important research from leading scholars assesses the progress, problems and potentials of fiscal decentralization in a variety of developing countries around the world. With rich and varied case-study material from countries as diverse as India, China, Colombia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and South Africa this volume complements neatly the collection Fiscal Aspects of Evolving Federations edited by David Wildasin and also published by Cambridge, which presented theoretical advances in the area of research.

There appears to be an increasing trend in worldwide fiscal decentralization. In particular, many developing countries are turning to various forms of fiscal decentralization as an escape from inefficient and ineffective governance, macroeconomic stability, and inadequate growth. Fiscal Decentralization in Developing Countries: An Overview edited by Professors Bird and Vaillancourt and featuring important research from leading scholars assesses the progress, problems and potentials of fiscal decentralization in a variety of developing countries around the world. With rich and varied case-study material from countries as diverse as India, China, Colombia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and South Africa this volume complements neatly the collection Fiscal Aspects of Evolving Federations edited by David Wildasin and also published by Cambridge, which presented theoretical advances in the area of research.

This volume addresses the two key financing constraints that firms must face: taxation and finance. The taxation analysis focuses on how tax systems in selected Asian economies affect growth and the relative competitiveness of foreign and domestic enterprises. It outlines key features of the systems and provides a set of guidelines for potential foreign investors as to how these systems compare with each other (and with those in Canada and the United States) and predict future developments (including financial innovation and the internet).

The study of financial frameworks focuses on corporate finance and analyzes the relationship between financing patterns and the level of development of securities markets and financial liberalization in the region. It focuses on the issue of how firms finance investments and the extent to which they depend on retained earnings and funding obtained through the market.

Both studies include Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. Both also consider the implications of taxation for savings and investment flows in domestic economies and across borders-and the implications of public sector demand for savings for corporate financing constraints.

Agriculture is the largest economic sector in most countries of Latin American, Africa, and Asia, and the taxation of agricultural land is a potentially important instrument in the development policies of such nations. But there is a large gap between theory and practice, a gap that needs explaining. In addition, there have been interesting changes in thought on the role of such taxation in development. Richard M. Bird covers all this in a complete rethinking of the whole subject. His book is a distinguished successor to Haskell P. Wald's classic study, Taxation of Agricultural Land in Underdeveloped Economics, published by Harvard University Press in 1959. With abundant evidence Bird argues that the tax system of each country, in order to be effective as a part of development policy, must be tailored carefully to peculiar circumstances and objectives of that country.