Focusing on the Few: the Role of Large Taxpayer Units in the Revenue Strategies of Developing Countries

Part I of this paper first reviews the spread of LTUs, and briefly describes the experience of LTUs in a few selected countries. This section takes up the question of the LTU as an enclave administrative reform versus semi-autonomous revenue agencies and "whole of government" reform involving broad based wages, human resources planning and anti-corruption measures.Part II examines the emergence of the LTU and its relationships to the remainder of the tax administration system in different kinds of developing and transition economies, such as (i)capable developing states, (ii) administratively weak but governance improving states, and (iii)captured states. The relative success of LTUs can improve our understanding of the enclave approach to governance reforms as well as yielding insights that are intrinsic to the challenge of improving revenue mobilization. LTUs and their roles in developing country economies can also be interpreted through the prism of recent revisionist writings on best policies for the tax mix in the presence of a major informal sector and a government sector with a highly constrained taxing capacity and high vulnerability to corruption.Working Paper Number 04-44

Analysis of the Natura 2000 Networks in Sweden and Spain

In this paper the main differences between Natura 2000 Network in Sweden and Spain are analyzed. Comparing different documents at different levels: European, national and regional, the author aims to understand which strategies have been taken in both countries regarding the implementation, management, funding and social reactions of Natura 2000 Network and verify whether in a common Europe the differences in the understanding of environmental common policy are decisive and define the implementation process. The results can clearly show that such differences occur in practically the total issues analyzed. Sweden could be characterized by its orderly and homogeneous implementation process with a close communication between public administration and stakeholders that have influenced all the process. As a result its Natura 2000 Network has marked differences on distribution and size in its Natura sites. Spain, however, shows a heterogeneous and complicated process characterized for both the disinformation due to the lack of communication with the stakeholders and controversial legislative measures which caused social reactions against this network. In contrast it seems that the criteria followed for the sites selection were less influenced by stakeholders. As a conclusion environmental Directives transpositions are being fulfilled with different criteria having as a result significant differences in their final objective

Furthering internal border area studies: an analysis of dysfunctions and cooperation mechanisms in the water and river management of Catalonia, Aragon and the Valencian Community (Spain)

Cooperation between countries or regions that share a political border is one of the primary concerns of border studies. However, while cooperation between states is a well-established field based on international agreements, the cooperation between internal-state regions is not as well understood and requires more exhaustive study. Cooperation agreements between regions are frequently based on the shared and collaborative management of environmental resources such as river basins. This paper aimed to identify mechanisms of river basin cooperation in the internal border area between Catalonia, Aragon and the Valencian Community (Spain), with the objective of analyzing dysfunctions in their water management and identifying the territorial needs for the efficient management of these resources. Focus group sessions were conducted with 84 public administration stakeholders and a total of 53 border municipalities were involved in the project. In our study area, we identified a considerable number of dysfunctions that affected different levels of water management (e.g., supply, navigation and reservoirs) and which impeded effective cooperation between different administrations (above all, between town councils and the public water agencies). However, we also identified several interesting initiatives to promote water management in both the medium and long term, including river contracts, river commonwealths and river tourism projects managed by border municipalities

Financing Options for Devolved Government in the UK

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the financing options for devolved government in the UK. Starting with a discussion of the present situation, the consequences and the possible future of the Barnett formula, the key economic and political principles for devolution finance are examined and then applied to possible financing options. The conclusion draws together the main points of the analysis and comments on the alternatives for funding the devolved administrations. While currently there appears to be considerable cross-party support for the Barnett system, it continues to be a contentious arrangement, with some observers even talking of a “fiscal crisis” (McLean (2005)). The paper therefore reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the present system, together with suggestions for possible changes.

Mapping the Swiss Public Administration: Challenges and First Research Steps

In the present paper, we argue that the existing data collections fail to map specific features of modern public administration in Switzerland, namely new modes of governance with hybrid state structures. After presenting the Swiss federal administration in a nutshell, we discuss the challenge of mapping hybrid state structures based on different studies focusing on four different aspects: first, quasi-state bodies; second, joined up government; third, emerging new institutions for problems not adequately captured by existing political geography, most prominently seen in the case of functional urban regions; and fourth, new modes of governance with co-production of public goods by state and non-state actors. We then present newer studies and ongoing research (which could be coupled with the mapping of public administration in Switzerland), namely the "agenda setting"-project, research on independent regulatory bodies and, finally, the courts' impact on public administration. In further conceptual work, we may discuss in more depth how the challenge of new modes of governance and cooperative government can be addressed by focusing on the transformation of state structures rather than by adopting a static view.

Gender, violence and Brexit

How will the UK exit from the EU affect gender-based violence against women? Four issues are addressed to answer this question. First, the importance of theorising the interconnections with a gender regime, including between gendered economic inequality and gendered violence. Second, the significance of the difference between hard and soft security strategies for the level of gendered violence. Third, the significance of the emerging competence of the EU in the governance of violence/security relative to the member states and international bodies. Fourth, the specific nature of Brexit and the form of the future relationship between the UK and EU. The paper concludes that Brexit is likely to increase gender-based violence against women in the UK, partly as a result of the differences in the regulation of violence/security between the UK and the EU and partly as a result of increases in gender inequality in the economy that has effects across the whole gender regime

Three Decades of Neoliberal Economics in Chile: Achievements, Failures and Dilemmas

The Chilean development story of the last two to three decades is a mix of successes in the macro, growth, poverty and trade fronts but also of failure in reducing chronic inequality of income and wealth. In addition, the current growth patterns have serious impacts on the environment, natural resources and energy demand. Adverse features of the Chilean development model include urban insecurity and rising crime, pollution, pressure on natural resources, congestion and social stratification in access to education, health and pensions. A reduction in social inequality would require changes in several fronts: more public-sector resources devoted to education; curtailing current concentration of wealth and market shares in banking, retail trade, and private pensions systems, private health provision, and other sectors; more effective regulation of big business; rebalancing of labour unions. bargaining power capacities and effective support to the sector of small and medium size enterprises. Chilean democracy would benefit from a redefinition in development priorities towards less power for the dominant elites (economic and political) and broader social participation for the middle class and the working people to support dynamic and more equitableChile, development, inequality, growth, natural resources, social policy, middle class

Information transfer in the agricultural sector in Spain

This paper examines the structures of information transfer to the agricultural (production) and agro-alimentary (transformation and commercialization of the products) sector within Spain. A historical perspective is provided to better illustrate the reality and complexity of Spain with regard to the systems of agrarian extension, agricultural research, resources provided by Spain’s central administration, and the use of information by related enterprises. The Service of Agrarian Extension appeared in Spain in the 1950s, and new political-administrative structures (agribusiness associations, cooperatives) were founded when Spain became a democratic nation in the late 1970s, and with the arrival of electronic information, largely in the 1990s. We also describe the tools supporting innovation in the agro-alimentary sector: centers of agrarian research and technological centers. Finally, reference is made to the means of communication dedicated to the agricultural sector. The paper illustrates that the systems of agricultural information in Spain have been largely derived from initiatives of the Public Administration, with few private initiatives

Reforms and Counter-Reforms in Bolivia

This paper analyzes the process of reforms and counter-reforms witnessed in Bolivia over the last two and a half decades, and the effects these processes have had on productivity. In addition, the paper discusses the changing nature of the policy- making processes underlying the reform and counter-reform processes, in terms of the actors who participated in the PMP, policy domains, and arenas where the PMP was shaped, and the currencies used by different actors in order to press for their demands. Moreover, the paper analyzes the factor underlying the changes which took place in the support given by the population to the reform process.Reforms, Productivity, Political Economy, Bolivia