The present volume provides a collection of material on the subject of international comparisons, contributed by scholars from a range of relevant disciplines and geographical backgrounds. The papers in this volume have been classified into two broad groups united by overlapping themes. Part I includes essentially empirical papers intended to provide a clear picture of the different types of international comparisons that have been undertaken by various organizations and individuals. The papers relate to empirical studies of different sectoral and national income aggregates at both regional...

Discusses the fiscal decentralisation reform in Ukraine by covering both the deep problems and failures that were encountered for almost a decade and the quite spectacular success of the reforms introduced in 2001.

Addressing the question of the best possible uses of public funds and the most effective strategies for regional development, this book focuses on the development of human capital and the methodology of formulating regional policy.

In recent decades countries around the world have seen a wide diversity of tax reforms, both in major systematic changes and through more specific areas of tax, such as value-added and income tax. The results of these reforms, however, have been unequal and many issues remain unresolved. With advances in globalization, technology and regional integration, the issue of adapting tax systems in developing countries to new economic environments is becoming ever more pressing.

Scholars and practitioners have long hailed fiscal federalism as a critical tool for improving government services, but it has not always lived up to its promise when applied in specific countries. This book offers both an explanation for such mixed effects and a roadmap for better outcomes in the future. It argues that the benefits of fiscal federalism are contingent on a particular confluence of political institutions, namely democratic decentralization and political party integration. With this in mind, the authors emphasize the importance of striking a "fine balance" between the...

Governments have always endured economic woes, but the increasing severity of such challenges, from the Great Recession starting in 2008 to the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlights the need for better-developed fiscal analysis capacity in governments of all sizes using the most practical-yet robust-techniques available. This volume presents an array of real-world analytical approaches in a variety of service areas at the core of state and local government. The concrete insights provided by this book serve as important tools for policy analysts, government officials...