The growth of interest in fiscal decentralization has meant that there has been something of a rush to enshrine this in policy - The World Bank has reported that about 70 countries see this as a major part of their development strategy. This book critically examines the case for decentralization. This collection of contributions comes from a worldwide team of experts, including Albert Breton, Piero Giarda and Anwar Shah. After analysing fiscal decentralization in general, the book goes on to look at intriguing case studies of various regions around the world including: The European Union;...

This study approaches the subject of tax reform from basic economic principles. The objectives are to develop guidelines for the design of tax policy; to show how the principles can structure systematic research into tax reform in terms of the consequences for households, producers and government; and finally, to combine the guidelines and applied research into a practical tax package for Pakistan, where tax reform has become an urgent priority. Professors Ahmad and Stern provide a coherent framework to show how principles can be formulated, applied research structured, and policies developed...