Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name:Jameson Boex 
Author-Name: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez 
Author-Email: jorgemartinez@gsu.edu 
Author-Homepage: https://icepp.gsu.edu/profile/jorge-martinez-vazquez/
Author-Workplace-Name:  International Studies Program. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
Author-Workplace-Homepage:  https://icepp.gsu.edu/
Author-Name: Andrey Timofeev
Author-Email:atimofeev@gsu.edu
Author-Homepage: http://aysps.gsu.edu/isp/TimofeevA.html
Author-Workplace-Name: International Studies Program. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
Author-Workplace-Homepage: https://icepp.gsu.edu/
Title: Subnational Government Structure and Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations 
Abstract: Many countries around the world are currently engaged in one way or another in policy debates or reforms of 
their system of intergovernmental fiscal relations. While the policy dynamics vary greatly from country to country, 
the focus of such reform efforts can generally be categorized into one of the four main dimensions of intergovernmental 
fiscal relations, namely the assignment of functional responsibilities (expenditure assignments), 
the assignment of revenue sources, the provision of intergovernmental fiscal transfers, and the regulatory framework for 
subnational borrowing and debt. Based on the mantra that “finance should follow function,” the conceptual starting point of 
fiscal decentralization reforms is generally held to be the assignment of expenditure responsibilities, which seeks to 
address the question what functions and expenditure responsibilities should be assigned to each level of government 
(Bahl 1999). However, a preceding question that is often overlooked pertains to the structure of subnational governments: 
how should the government sector be structured in order to ensure that fiscal decentralization reforms will result in 
a more efficient allocation of public resources?
Keywords: Subnational Government,Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations 
Length:  pages
Creation-Date: 2004-01-01
File-URL:http://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2015/03/ispwp0401.pdf
File-Format:Application/PDF
Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0401