IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/regstd/v54y2020i7p919-930.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal stability during the Great Recession: putting decentralization design to the test

Author

Listed:
  • Santiago Lago-Peñas
  • Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
  • Agnese Sacchi

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical analysis aimed at disentangling the roles played by decentralization level and design as well as the extended decentralized framework provided by subnational borrowing rules and fiscal responsibility laws on a country’s fiscal stability. Using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries’ data from the period 1995–2014, strong regularities are found regarding the effects of decentralization, even during the recent Great Recession. Higher levels of fiscal decentralization have a beneficiary effect on fiscal performance, but the positive impact erodes rapidly with the level of vertical fiscal imbalance. Other fiscal institutions shaping decentralization design, such as borrowing and other fiscal rules, can also contribute to foster fiscal stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Agnese Sacchi, 2020. "Fiscal stability during the Great Recession: putting decentralization design to the test," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(7), pages 919-930, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:54:y:2020:i:7:p:919-930
    DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2019.1637836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00343404.2019.1637836
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00343404.2019.1637836?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antoine Bozio & Carl Emmerson & Andreas Peichl & Gemma Tetlow, 2015. "European Public Finances and the Great Recession: France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom Compared," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 36, pages 405-430, December.
    2. David Bartolini & Agnese Sacchi & Simone Salotti & Raffaella Santolini, 2018. "Fiscal Decentralization in Times of Financial Crises," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 64(3), pages 456-488.
    3. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Violeta Vulovic, 2017. "How well do subnational borrowing regulations work?," Chapters, in: Naoyuki Yoshino & Peter J. Morgan (ed.), Central and Local Government Relations in Asia, chapter 5, pages 161-220, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Gramlich, Edward M., 1993. "A Policymaker's Guide to Fiscal Decentralization," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 46(2), pages 229-35, June.
    5. Mauro, Paolo & Romeu, Rafael & Binder, Ariel & Zaman, Asad, 2015. "A modern history of fiscal prudence and profligacy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 55-70.
    6. Lars Calmfors & Simon Wren-Lewis, 2011. "What should fiscal councils do? [Fiscal policy when monetary policy is tied to the mast]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(68), pages 649-695.
    7. Jin, Jing & Zou, Heng-fu, 2002. "How does fiscal decentralization affect aggregate, national, and subnational government size?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 270-293, September.
    8. Jorge Martínez Vázquez & Robert M. McNab, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization, macrostability and growth," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 179(4), pages 25-49, September.
    9. Henning Bohn, 1998. "The Behavior of U. S. Public Debt and Deficits," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 949-963.
    10. Xavier Debrun & David Hauner & Manmohan S. Kumar, 2009. "Independent Fiscal Agencies," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 44-81, February.
    11. Schaltegger, Christoph A. & Feld, Lars P., 2009. "Are fiscal adjustments less successful in decentralized governments?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 115-123, March.
    12. Mathias André & Antoine Bozio & Malka Guillot & Louise Paul‐Delvaux, 2015. "French Public Finances through the Financial Crisis: It's a Long Way to Recovery," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 36, pages 431-452, December.
    13. Jia, Junxue & Liu, Yongzheng & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Zhang, Kewei, 2021. "Vertical fiscal imbalance and local fiscal indiscipline: Empirical evidence from China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. Gerard Turley & Stephen McNena, 2016. "An Analysis of Local Public Finances and the 2014 Local Government Reforms," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 47(2), pages 299-326.
    15. Francesca Fornasari & Steven B. Webb & Heng-fu Zou, 2000. "The Macroeconomic Impact of Decentralized Spending and Deficits: International Evidence," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 1(2), pages 403-433, November.
    16. von Hagen, Jurgen & Harden, Ian J., 1995. "Budget processes and commitment to fiscal discipline," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(3-4), pages 771-779, April.
    17. Ernesto Stein, 1999. "Fiscal Decentralization and Government Size in Latin America," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(2), pages 357-391, November.
    18. Andres Rodriguez-Pose & Nicholas Gill, 2005. "On the 'economic dividend' of devolution," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 405-420.
    19. Beck, Nathaniel & Katz, Jonathan N., 1995. "What To Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 634-647, September.
    20. Francisco Martí & Javier J. Pérez, 2015. "Spanish Public Finances through the Financial Crisis," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 36, pages 527-554, December.
    21. Rodden, Jonathan, 2003. "Reviving Leviathan: Fiscal Federalism and the Growth of Government," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(4), pages 695-729, October.
    22. Foremny, Dirk, 2014. "Sub-national deficits in European countries: The impact of fiscal rules and tax autonomy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 86-110.
    23. Teresa Ter-Minassian, 2007. "Fiscal Rules for Subnational Governments: Can They Promote Fiscal Discipline?," OECD Journal on Budgeting, OECD Publishing, vol. 6(3), pages 1-11.
    24. Maximilian J. Blömer & Mathias Dolls & Clemens Fuest & Max Löffler & Andreas Peichl, 2015. "German Public Finances through the Financial Crisis," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 36, pages 453-474, December.
    25. Mr. Guiseppe Pisauro, 2001. "Intergovernmental Relations and Fiscal Discipline: Between Commons and Soft Budget Constraints," IMF Working Papers 2001/065, International Monetary Fund.
    26. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01311347 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Dirk Foremny & Agnese Sacchi & Simone Salotti, 2017. "Decentralization and the duration of fiscal consolidation: shifting the burden across layers of government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 359-387, June.
    28. Lago Peñas, Santiago & Fernández Leiceaga, Xoaquín & Vaquero, Alberto, 2017. "¿Por qué incumplen fiscalmente las Comunidades Autónomas?," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 37, pages 7-29.
    29. John Thornton, 2009. "Do fiscal responsibility laws matter? Evidence from emerging market economies suggests not," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 127-132.
    30. Thushyanthan Baskaran, 2010. "On the link between fiscal decentralization and public debt in OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 351-378, December.
    31. Lars Calmfors, 2003. "Fiscal Policy to Stabilise the Domestic Economy in the EMU: What Can We Learn from Monetary Policy?," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 49(3), pages 319-353.
    32. Presbitero, Andrea F. & Sacchi, Agnese & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2014. "Property tax and fiscal discipline in OECD countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 428-433.
    33. Sheikh, Munir A & Winer, Stanley L, 1977. "Stabilization and Nonfederal Behaviour in an Open Federal State: An Econometric Study of the Fixed Exchange Rate, Canadian Case," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 195-211.
    34. Neyapti, Bilin, 2010. "Fiscal decentralization and deficits: International evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 155-166, June.
    35. Xavier Debrun & Laurent Moulin & Alessandro Turrini & Joaquim Ayuso-i-Casals & Manmohan S. Kumar, 2008. "Tied to the mast? National fiscal rules in the European Union [‘Constitutions, politics, and economics’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 23(54), pages 298-362.
    36. de Mello, Luiz Jr, 2000. "Fiscal Decentralization and Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations: A Cross-Country Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 365-380, February.
    37. Claire Keane, 2015. "Irish Public Finances through the Financial Crisis," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 36, pages 475-497, December.
    38. Oliver Denk, 2013. "Italy and the Euro Area Crisis: Securing Fiscal Sustainability and Financial Stability," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1065, OECD Publishing.
    39. Enrique Moral-Benito & Paul Allison & Richard Williams, 2019. "Dynamic panel data modelling using maximum likelihood: an alternative to Arellano-Bond," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(20), pages 2221-2232, April.
    40. Naoyuki Yoshino & Peter J. Morgan (ed.), 2017. "Central and Local Government Relations in Asia," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 17640.
    41. Anwar Shah, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization and macroeconomic management," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(4), pages 437-462, August.
    42. Mr. Luc Eyraud & Ms. Marialuz Moreno Badia, 2013. "Too Small to Fail? Subnational Spending Pressures in Europe," IMF Working Papers 2013/046, International Monetary Fund.
    43. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    44. Simon Luechinger & Christoph Schaltegger, 2013. "Fiscal rules, budget deficits and budget projections," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(5), pages 785-807, October.
    45. Neyapti, Bilin, 2013. "Fiscal decentralization, fiscal rules and fiscal discipline," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(3), pages 528-532.
    46. Ananya Kotia & Victor Duarte Lledo, 2016. "Do Subnational Fiscal Rules Foster Fiscal Discipline? New Empirical Evidence from Europe," IMF Working Papers 2016/084, International Monetary Fund.
    47. Alan J. Auerbach & Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2017. "Fiscal Stimulus and Fiscal Sustainability," NBER Working Papers 23789, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    48. Mr. Stephan Danninger, 2002. "A New Rule: The Swiss Debt Brake," IMF Working Papers 2002/018, International Monetary Fund.
    49. Mr. Luc Eyraud & Ms. Anita Tuladhar & Mr. Julio Escolano & Ms. Marialuz Moreno Badia & Ms. Juliane Sarnes, 2012. "Fiscal Performance, Institutional Design and Decentralization in European Union Countries," IMF Working Papers 2012/045, International Monetary Fund.
    50. Gramlich, Edward M., 1993. "A Policymaker's Guide to Fiscal Decentralization," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 46(2), pages 229-235, June.
    51. Eyraud, Luc & Lusinyan, Lusine, 2013. "Vertical fiscal imbalances and fiscal performance in advanced economies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 571-587.
    52. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01311335 is not listed on IDEAS
    53. Carl Emmerson & Gemma Tetlow, 2015. "UK Public Finances: From Crisis to Recovery," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 36, pages 555-577, December.
    54. Jonathan A. Rodden & Gunnar S. Eskeland (ed.), 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262182297, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Vinko Muštra, 2022. "The economic returns of decentralisation: Government quality and the role of space," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(8), pages 1604-1622, November.
    2. Juan Pablo Jiménez & Leonardo Letelier & Ignacio Ruelas & Jaime Bonet-Morón, 2021. "Reglas fiscales subnacionales: Revisión empírica, experiencias internacionales y sus desafíos en la nueva institucionalidad fiscal post COVID," Documentos de trabajo sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 300, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    3. Luis Ayala & Ana Herrero & Jorge Martinez‐Vazquez, 2021. "Welfare benefits in highly decentralized fiscal systems: Evidence on interregional mimicking," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(5), pages 1178-1208, October.
    4. Maria Cadaval Sampedro & Ana Herrero Alcalde & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2022. "Extreme events and the resilience of decentralized governance," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 2212, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    5. Pietrovito, Filomena & Pozzolo, Alberto Franco & Resce, Giuliano & Scialà, Antonio, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization and income (re)distribution in OECD countries’ regions," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 69-81.
    6. Luis Ayala & Ana Herrero & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2019. "Welfare Benefits in Highly Decentralized Fiscal Systems: Evidence on Interterritorial Mimicking," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1905, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    7. Timothy J. Goodspeed, 2022. "Coping with extreme events: On solving decentralized budgetary crises," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 2210, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    8. Akalbeo, Benard & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Yedgenov, Bauyrzhan, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization and structural versus cyclical unemployment levels," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Timothy J. Goodspeed, 2018. "Decentralization and intra-country transfers in the great recession: the case of EU," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1807, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    10. Venturini, Fiorenza, 2020. "The unintended composition effect of the subnational government fiscal rules: The case of Italian municipalities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Bartolini & Agnese Sacchi & Simone Salotti & Raffaella Santolini, 2018. "Fiscal Decentralization in Times of Financial Crises," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 64(3), pages 456-488.
    2. Manuel E. Lago & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2024. "On the effects of intergovernmental grants: a survey," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(3), pages 856-908, June.
    3. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Agnese Sacchi, 2017. "The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1095-1129, September.
    4. Santiago Lago-Peñas & Agnese Sacchi & Pablo Simon-Cosano, 2014. "Who honor the rules of federalism? Party system nationalization and fiscal performance," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1409, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    5. Akalbeo, Benard & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Yedgenov, Bauyrzhan, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization and structural versus cyclical unemployment levels," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Jochimsen, Beate & Raffer, Christian, 2020. "Local Government Fiscal Regulation in the EU: The Impact of Balanced Budget Rules," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224566, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Iqbal, Nasir & Nawaz, Saima, 2010. "Fiscal Decentralization and Macroeconomic Stability: Theory and Evidence from Pakistan," MPRA Paper 27184, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Siniša Mali & Lenka MaliCká, 2023. "Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Fiscal Stance in EU: Real Deal or Econometric Illusion?," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 246(3), pages 71-99, September.
    9. Jia, Junxue & Liu, Yongzheng & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Zhang, Kewei, 2021. "Vertical fiscal imbalance and local fiscal indiscipline: Empirical evidence from China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Dirk Foremny & Agnese Sacchi & Simone Salotti, 2017. "Decentralization and the duration of fiscal consolidation: shifting the burden across layers of government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 359-387, June.
    11. Grażyna Bukowska & Joanna Siwińska-Gorzelak, 2016. "Can fiscal decentralisation curb fiscal imbalances?," Working Papers 2016-35, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    12. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Violeta Vulovic, 2017. "How well do subnational borrowing regulations work?," Chapters, in: Naoyuki Yoshino & Peter J. Morgan (ed.), Central and Local Government Relations in Asia, chapter 5, pages 161-220, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Ananya Kotia & Victor Duarte Lledo, 2016. "Do Subnational Fiscal Rules Foster Fiscal Discipline? New Empirical Evidence from Europe," IMF Working Papers 2016/084, International Monetary Fund.
    14. Makreshanska, Suzana & Petrevski, Goran, 2015. "Fiscal Decentralization and Inflation in Central and Eastern Europe," MPRA Paper 77596, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 16 Mar 2017.
    15. Oto-Peralías, Daniel & Romero-Ávila, Diego & Usabiaga, Carlos, 2013. "Does fiscal decentralization mitigate the adverse effects of corruption on public deficits?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 205-231.
    16. Agnese Sacchi & Simone Salotti, 2017. "The influence of decentralized taxes and intergovernmental grants on local spending volatility," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 507-522, April.
    17. Thushyanthan Baskaran, 2012. "Tax Decentralization and Public Deficits in OECD Countries," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 42(4), pages 688-707, October.
    18. Mr. Serhan Cevik, 2014. "Fragmentation and Vertical Fiscal Imbalances Lessons from Moldova," IMF Working Papers 2014/233, International Monetary Fund.
    19. Eyraud, Luc & Lusinyan, Lusine, 2013. "Vertical fiscal imbalances and fiscal performance in advanced economies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 571-587.
    20. Mr. Luc Eyraud & Ms. Marialuz Moreno Badia, 2013. "Too Small to Fail? Subnational Spending Pressures in Europe," IMF Working Papers 2013/046, International Monetary Fund.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:54:y:2020:i:7:p:919-930. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CRES20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.