Structural reform, revenue adequacy and optimal tax assignment in local government

A striking feature of local government reform in many Commonwealth countries has been a heavy reliance on structural reform, often in the form of forced local council amalgamation. This paper argues that the long-run success of structural change in local government hinges on several key factors, not least that voluntary rather than compulsory council mergers have a far greater chance of success. A second key ingredient resides in a high degree of local autonomy in both the composition and operation of decentralized governmental functions. A third vital factor lies in ensuring that revenue and tax assignment is sufficient to provide local government with financial autonomy. Finally, adequate powers of taxation need to be accorded to local government and this requires careful consideration of the types of taxes most suited to local government

L'approccio economico al federalismo fiscale

L'approccio economico al federalismo fiscale - Local governance in its broadest form predates the modern nation-state. Contemporary local government arose from historical accident rather than by deliberate design and its subsequent evolution represents the outcome of constitutional reform, legislative change, political opportunism, popular agitation, urbanization, technical progress and a host of many other incidental influences. Scholars from a wide range of different disciplines have nonetheless sought to construct theoretical principles that can explain the nature of local government. We provide a synoptic review of the chief contributions of economics to contemporary understanding of local government in advanced democratic countries. In so doing we consider both normative economic theories of local government, which seek to provide a framework for how local government should be organized, and positive economic theories which attempt to explain why local government functions as it does.

La finanza locale: Italia e Inghilterra a confronto

Collana dell’Associazione italiana di scienze regionali (AISRe)- Parte I: Il caso italiano #31- Parte seconda: Il caso inglese #10

The Theory and Practice of Local Government Reform

The past few decades have witnessed a period of intensive reform across many total government jurisdictions in the developed world. While the pace and content of this reform has been uneven, both within particular local government systems in a given country and between municipal jurisdictions in different nations, very few local government jurisdictions have remained untouched. It is thus vital to examine the causes and consequences of local government reform. Various conceptual frameworks have been developed to facilitate our understanding of local government reform. For example, Shah (2006b, p.15) has argued that three 'basic principles' are prerequisites to successful local government reform: 'responsive governance' whereby reform should aim at delivering services that best meet local preferences; 'responsible governance' that focuses on the prudent use of scarce resources; and 'accountable governance' in which government must be made accountable to its electorate. Andrews and Shah (2005) have advanced the notion of 'citizen-centred governance' that contains three 'distinguishing features': 'citizen empowerment' founded on a 'rights approach'; 'bottom-up accountability' that emphasizes outcomes; and performance evaluation

Ileal Crohn's disease: CEUS determination of activity

Transabdominal ultrasound is currently accepted as a clinical first-line tool in the assessment of Crohn's disease activity. During recent years, great improvements have been achieved in ultrasound examination with the introduction of high-frequency transducers, ultrasonographic microbubble contrast agents, and dedicated contrast-specific ultrasound software. Therefore, contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is emerging as one of the most important imaging techniques in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with ileal Crohn's disease. It is non-invasive and non-ionizing, easily repeatable, well-tolerated by patients and has significant diagnostic accuracy. Moreover, the possibility to monitor response to therapies, describing, and quantifying contrast enhancement behavior by specific software, represents an interesting aspect of its utilization, considering the still open questions about the correct use of immunosuppressive and biological agents. The aim of our review is to provide an updated overview of the role of CEUS in the patients who have an ileal localization of Crohn's disease, defining its qualitative and quantitative features