The allocation of competences between the European Union and the Member States: an analysis of the determinants of Europeans’ preferences

In this paper we empirically study the preferences of European citizens concerning the allocation of powers between EU and the member States. To this aim, we use various issues of the Eurobarometer survey from year 1995 to year 2003. In the first part of the paper we present descriptive results regarding preferences of EU citizens by country and by policy domains and we find interesting results pointing out a ranking of countries according to their level of Europeanism, and a quite clear pattern of preferences relative to the allocation of competences for specific policy domains. In the second part of the paper we turn to econometric analysis; first, we regress a measure of “Europeanism” of EU citizens on a number of individual characteristics including demographic information and various indicators of the attitude towards EU. Next, we select a certain number of policy domains and, for each of these, we investigate which individual characteristics make European citizens more prone to prefer centralisation of competences. Also econometric analysis reveals interesting patterns regarding EU citizens’ preferences for allocation of powers.

Federalism, Education-Related Public Good and Growth when Agents are Heterogeneou

In this paper we use an endogeneous-growth model with human capital and heterogeneous agents to analyse the relationship between fiscal federalism and economic growth. Results show that federalism, which allows education-related public good levels to be tailored on the human capital of heterogeneous agents, increases human capital accumulation. This in turn leads to higher rates of growth. The benefits of federalism are stronger the larger the intra-jurisdiction variance of agents’ human capital.Fiscal Federalism, Endogenous Economic Growth, Overlapping Generations, Heterogeneous Agents

Agency and communication problems in IMF conditional lending

The combination of special interest politics (agency problems) and informational asymmetries presents serious problems as the implementation of Fund conditionality is concerned. In this paper we focus on the role that the transmission of information between the IMF and the borrowing government has for the design of the most e??cient "incentive contract." Specifically, we find that when agency problems are especially severe, and/or IMF information is very valuable, a centralized control is indeed optimal (conventional conditionality). To the contrary, when local knowledge is more important than the agency bias we expect delegation (ownership) to be the optimal incentive scheme.IMF conditionality, delegation, communication

In Search for Yardstick Competition: Property Tax Rates and Electoral Behavior in Italian Cities

Do citizens engage in comparative performance evaluation across local governments? And if they do, how can we disentangle this behavior from other forms of strategic interactions among local governments or simple spatial correlation across neighboring jurisdictions? We use spatial econometrics techniques and the institutional characteristics of the Italian system to test if some theoretically derived predictions of yardstick competition theory are supported by data, estimating to this aim both a tax setting and a popularity equation. The results show that local tax rates are positively auto-correlated among neighboring jurisdictions when the mayors run for re-election, while this correlation is absent where either the mayors face a term limit or where they are backed by an overwhelming majority in the local council. Both results are in clear agreement with yardstick theory. On the other hand, the results of the estimation of the popularity equation are less supportive of the theory, possibly as a result of the difficulty in controlling for public service quality and the simultaneous setting of multiple policy instruments.local property tax setting, yardstick competition, spatial auto-correlation.

Constitutional reforms, fiscal decentralization and regional fiscal flows in Italy

In the last 15 years, Italy has been involved in a complex, confuse and unfinished process of fiscal decentralization. In this context, data on fiscal flows are continuously produced and thrown in the political arena by several actors, political parties, interest groups and media alike, with little scientific underpinnings and often with limited adherence to reality. This paper discusses at length the issue of fiscal federalism in Italy and presents a careful attempt to measure regional redistribution, or fiscal flows across regions. It describes the decentralization process in Italy from the beginning of the ‘90’s to date and presents a few data on the main features of the Italian decentralization process, that only happened on the financing side, with little effects on the allocation of expenditure responsibility between levels of governments. The focus is however on the measurement of regional fiscal flows and on the problems concerning the regionalization of public expenditure and revenues. Our basic conclusions can be summarised as follows. Fiscal flows in Italy are huge and are mostly driven by the large difference in economic development between the different areas of the country. The public sector generally works in the direction of equalizing per capita (current) public expenditure across regions, at least for fundamental services. However, the distance in economic development, and therefore in tax revenues among regions, is so large that even this partial equalization is enough to generate consistent fiscal flows across the national territory. Clearly, fiscal federalism has some chances of success in Italy only if it works in the direction of reducing the distance between territorial areas and the Italian debate on fiscal federalism, rich in ideology and poor in facts, would certainly benefit by an improved quality of regional data and by official estimations, based on clear and transparent methodology, of regional fiscal flows.fiscal federalism, net fiscal flows, regional redistribution

The Great Reset

This timely and insightful collection of essays written by economists from a range of academic and policy institutes explores the subject of public investment through two avenues. The first examines public investment trends and needs in Europe, addressing the initiatives taken by European governments to tackle the COVID-19 recession and to rebuild their economies. The second identifies key domains where European public investment is needed to build a more sustainable Europe, from climate change to human capital formation. Building on the 2020 edition, The Great Reset demonstrates the value of public capital both within European countries and as a European public good, shedding light on the impact that the NextGenerationEU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility will likely have on the macroeconomic structure of the European economy. The first part of the Outlook assesses the state of public investment in Europe at large, as well as focusing on five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain) as case studies. The second part focuses on the challenges posed by the pandemic and the pillars of the NextGenerationEU investment plan, with chapters ranging from education and digitalization, to territorial cohesion and green transition. This book is a must-read for economists, policymakers, and scholars interested in the impact and recovery of European countries during a time of extensive uncertainty

The Great Reset

This timely and insightful collection of essays written by economists from a range of academic and policy institutes explores the subject of public investment through two avenues. The first examines public investment trends and needs in Europe, addressing the initiatives taken by European governments to tackle the COVID-19 recession and to rebuild their economies. The second identifies key domains where European public investment is needed to build a more sustainable Europe, from climate change to human capital formation. Building on the 2020 edition, The Great Reset demonstrates the value of public capital both within European countries and as a European public good, shedding light on the impact that the NextGenerationEU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility will likely have on the macroeconomic structure of the European economy. The first part of the Outlook assesses the state of public investment in Europe at large, as well as focusing on five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain) as case studies. The second part focuses on the challenges posed by the pandemic and the pillars of the NextGenerationEU investment plan, with chapters ranging from education and digitalization, to territorial cohesion and green transition. This book is a must-read for economists, policymakers, and scholars interested in the impact and recovery of European countries during a time of extensive uncertainty

Some issues on decentralization and the size of nations

Dottorato di ricerca in economia politica. 12. ciclo. Coordinatore Oscar Garavello. Tutore Alberto Quadrio CurzioConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

Introduction

In a recent Financial Times article Mario Draghi (2020) highlighted, in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the challenges ahead for advanced economies, and for the European Union in particular. As we write (April 2020), the extent of the economic damage from the pandemic is yet unknown. Even in the best-case scenario of a fast recovery, the world economy will experience an economic slump that will be far worse than the one that followed the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Drag..

4. Public Investment Trends across Levels of Government in Italy

Introduction Italy, over this last decade, has experienced the worst economic crisis in its history. A double recession, during which GDP contracted by approximately 9 %, was followed by weak and stunted expansion: from 2013 to the present day, less than half of the ground lost has been regained. As a result of the crisis, Italy has seen a real slump in investments. In this context, there is mounting pressure for greater public investment to stimulate economic activity in the short run and to..