{module 209}   {module 158}

Fiscal Federalism Objectives   The Research Program in Fiscal Federalism has as its primary goal the study of the public finances and the political economy of multi-level governments (i.e., supra-national, national, regional and local). Its research covers topics such as: the effects of decentralization on the quality of public services, the effects of taxes on…

  In its III IEB Report on Fiscal Federalism, the Barcelona Economics Institute warns that the current crisis threatens the very sustainability of local services, but at the same time the situation provides an opportunity to carry out far-reaching reforms of the system.

The report, published each year by the Barcelona Economics Institute, proposes capitalizing on the current economic crisis to reform local government and funding.

The study by Jenny E. Ligthart and Peter Van Oudheusden of Tilburg University shows that fiscal decentralization increases citizens trust in government. More specifically, a one percentage point increase in decentralization causes roughly a four-fifths of a percentage point increase in confidence. Ligthart and Van Oudheusden recently participated in the fourth IEB Workshop on Fiscal…

  A study by Hipólito Simón (IEI and IEB), Raúl Ramos (AQR-IREA) and Esteve Sanromà (IEB) concludes this is particularly so in the case of women.