Wow! eBook
Theory of Public Finance in a Federal State
Author(s): Dietmar Wellisch (Author)
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press
- Publication Date: January 13, 2000
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 226 pages
- ISBN-10: B001E95TUM
- ISBN-13: 9780511441448
Book Description
The central question of this book is whether the assignment of government functions to the individual jurisdictions in a federal state can ensure an optimal allocation of resources and a fair income distribution. The analysis thereby gives a new answer to the old question about the optimal degree of fiscal decentralization in a federal state. It shows that fiscal decentralization is a method to disclose the preferences of currently living and future generations for local public goods, to limit the size of the government, and to avoid excessive public debt finance. While the allocative branch of the government benefits from fiscal decentralization, it is difficult to obtain a distribution of incomes that differs from the outcome that the market brings along.
