Oecd Fiscal Federalism Studies Measuring Fiscal Decentralisation Concepts And Policies

When trying to measure fiscal decentralisation, the OECD Network on Fiscal Relations Across Government Levels has made significant progress in the last years, especially on tax autonomy of sub-central governments. But in many respects, real-world fiscal decentralisation still escapes the measuring tools, especially when it comes to measure the spending power of sub-central governments or the various regulations attached to intergovernmental grants. This book deals with two interrelated issues. The first concerns the various measurement of fiscal decentralization in general and their usefulness for policy analysis. The second and more specific issue concerns the taxonomy of intergovernmental grants and the limits of the current classifications, and how policy changes to the intergovernmental grants framework may require that measurement devices be adapted. Read more... Collection of papers that deal with indicators of fiscal decentralisation. Taking the OECD Fiscal Decentralisation Database as the starting point, the chapters address the measurement of tax autonomy or taxing power; the intricacies of tax sharing systems and their difference with respect to intergovernmental grants; and the measurement of true spending power when sub-central spending is influenced by central government. The first chapter of this book summarises the common findings, concluding that - although revenue decentralisation and tax autonomy emerge as the cornerstones of fiscal decentralisation - there is no single "true" indicator but that measuring intergovernmental fiscal frameworks requires a multi-dimensional approach. The book and its chapters are based on a conference held in Paris in spring 2011 on "Taxonomy of Grants and the Measurement of Decentralisation." Measuring decentralisation: the OECD fiscal decentralisation database -- On grant policy and the OECD-taxonomy of grants -- Measurement of decentralisation: how should we categorise tax sharing -- Role of decentralisation indicators in empirical research -- Measuring the extent of fiscal decentralisation: an application to the United States -- Measuring decentralisation of public sector activities: conceptual issues and the case of Germany -- Taxonomy of grants and local taxes: the Norwegian case -- Measuring decentralisation: the challenge of the Danish story -- From transfers to tax "co-occupation": the Italian reform of intergovernmental finance.