IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/jmaeth/v6y2018i1p145-154n15.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Federalism in Germany, Italy, and the European Union: History, Characteristics, and Perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Jochimsen Beate

    (Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR),German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

Federalism is always torn between the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Defining the federal structure of a country by finding the welfare-maximizing amount and design of government layers is challenging. Thereby, the financial endowment of different layers of government which they need to fulfill their respective tasks is an important aspect. European countries have chosen quite different federal designs to address the question of an optimal degree of fiscal decentralization. The aim of this paper is to analyze these different approaches for Germany, Italy, and the European Union. Parallels can be found in that all the three entities share a form of institutional asymmetry, a kind of fiscal bailout system, and a sort of fiscal equalization scheme.

Suggested Citation

  • Jochimsen Beate, 2018. "Federalism in Germany, Italy, and the European Union: History, Characteristics, and Perspectives," Journal for Markets and Ethics, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 145-154, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:jmaeth:v:6:y:2018:i:1:p:145-154:n:15
    DOI: 10.2478/jome-2018-0034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/jome-2018-0034
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/jome-2018-0034?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy Goodspeed, 2002. "Bailouts in a Federation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 9(4), pages 409-421, August.
    2. 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.
    3. David Golemboski, 2015. "Federalism and the Catholic Principle of Subsidiarity," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 45(4), pages 526-551.
    4. Timm Bönke & Beate Jochimsen & Carsten Schröder, 2017. "Fiscal Equalization and Tax Enforcement," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 18(3), pages 377-409, August.
    5. Wildasin, David E., 1997. "Externalities and bailouts : hard and soft budget constraints in intergovernmental fiscal relations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1843, The World Bank.
    6. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    7. Brennan,Geoffrey & Buchanan,James M., 2006. "The Power to Tax," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521027922, January.
    8. Jörg Broschek, 2012. "Historical Institutionalism and the Varieties of Federalism in Germany and Canada," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 42(4), pages 662-687, October.
    9. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
    10. Giuriato, Luisa & Gastaldi, Francesca, 2009. "The domestic stability pact in Italy: a rule for discipline?," MPRA Paper 15183, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Benjamin Larin & Bernd Süssmuth, 2014. "Fiscal Autonomy and Fiscal Sustainability: Subnational Taxation and Public Indebtedness in Contemporary Spain," CESifo Working Paper Series 4726, CESifo.
    2. Stefan Voigt, 2011. "Positive constitutional economics II—a survey of recent developments," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 205-256, January.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Stefan Voigt & Lorenz Blume, 2012. "The economic effects of federalism and decentralization—a cross-country assessment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 229-254, April.
    6. Alice Y. Ouyang & Rui Li, 2021. "Fiscal decentralization and the default risk of Chinese local government debts," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 641-667, July.
    7. Mandel Philipp & Süssmuth Bernd, 2015. "Public Education, Accountability, and Yardstick Competition in a Federal System," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 1679-1703, October.
    8. Schaltegger, Christoph A & Kuttel, Dominique, 2002. "Exit, Voice, and Mimicking Behavior: Evidence from Swiss Cantons," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 113(1-2), pages 1-23, October.
    9. 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.
    10. Köppl–Turyna, Monika & Pitlik, Hans, 2018. "Do equalization payments affect subnational borrowing? Evidence from regression discontinuity," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 84-108.
    11. Robert P. Inman, 2008. "Federalism's Values and the Value of Federalism," NBER Working Papers 13735, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, "undated". "The Role of Direct Democracy and Federalism in Local Power," IEW - Working Papers 209, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    13. Karolina Kaiser & Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, 2013. "The timing of elections in federations: a disciplining device against soft budget constraints?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 197-215, March.
    14. Benno Torgler & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2005. "The Determinants of Political Discussion: How Important are Audit Courts and Local Autonomy?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2005-28, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    15. Lars P. Feld & Ekkehard A. Köhler & Leonardo Palhuca & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2021. "Federalism and Foreign Direct Investment - An Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9120, CESifo.
    16. Paul Van Rompuy, 2016. "Sub-national Tax Autonomy and Deficits: Empirical Results for 27 OECD Countries," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 1248-1259, July.
    17. Boadway, Robin & Tremblay, Jean-François, 2012. "Reassessment of the Tiebout model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 1063-1078.
    18. Jin, Hehui & Qian, Yingyi & Weingast, Barry R., 2005. "Regional decentralization and fiscal incentives: Federalism, Chinese style," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1719-1742, September.
    19. 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.
    20. Bruno S. Frey, "undated". "Direct Democracy for Transition Countries," IEW - Working Papers 165, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Federalism; Germany; Italy; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913

    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:vrs:jmaeth:v:6:y:2018:i:1:p:145-154:n:15. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.