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The Practice of Fiscal Federalism in Spain

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Abstract

Over the past 25 years when the rapid decentralization was taking place, Spain enjoyed high rates of economic growth and prosperity, spotted with unusually high rates of unemployment associated with rigidities in labour market institutions. In 2005, GDP per capita was $ 25,500. Over the same period of 25 years, Spain underwent a considerable increase in tax effort. In 1975 total tax revenues as a percent of GDP stood at less than 20 percent. By comparison, at that time, the OECD average country was collecting in tax revenues 31 percent of GDP. By 2002, Spain had converged to the OECD average with total tax revenues representing over 35 percent of GDP. The increases in real GDP and the considerably higher presence of the public service in the economy allowed over the past quarter century a significant jump in the provision of public services at all levels of government.

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  • Julio López Laborda & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Carlos Monasterio Escudero, 2006. "The Practice of Fiscal Federalism in Spain," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0623, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0623
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    1. Fransisco Comín, 2006. "Reaching a Political Consensus for Tax Reform in Spain: The Moncloa Pacts, Joining the European Union and the Rest of the Journey," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0601, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    2. Isabelle Joumard & Claude Giorno, 2005. "Getting the Most Out of Public Sector Decentralisation in Spain," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 436, OECD Publishing.
    3. Bird, Richard M., 1993. "Threading the Fiscal Labyrinth: Some Issues in Fiscal Decentralization," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 46(2), pages 207-27, June.
    4. F. Pedraja-Chaparro & J. Salinas-Jiménez & J. Suárez-Pandiello, 2006. "Financing Local Governments: The Spanish Experience," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0611, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    5. Bird, Richard M., 1993. "Threading the Fiscal Labyrinth: Some Issues in Fiscal Decentralization," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 46(2), pages 207-227, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ignacio Lago & Santiago Lago-Peñas, 2016. "An economic explanation of the nationalization of electoral politics," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1602, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    2. Gangadha Prasad Shukla & Duc Minh Pham & Michael Engelschalk & Tuan Minh Le, 2011. "Tax Reform in Vietnam," World Bank Publications - Reports 26851, The World Bank Group.
    3. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Cristian Sepúlveda, 2007. "The Municipal Transfer System in Nicaragua:Evaluation and Proposals for Reform," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0708, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    4. Laura Varela-Candamio & Fernando Rubiera Morollón & Gohar Sedrakyan, 2019. "Urban sprawl and local fiscal burden: analysing the Spanish case," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 177-203, February.
    5. Santiago Lago-Peñas & Xoaquín Fernández-Leiceaga & Alberto Vaquero-García, 2017. "Spanish fiscal decentralization: A successful (but still unfinished) process," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(8), pages 1509-1525, December.
    6. Cordeiro Guerra, Susana & Lastra-Anadón, Carlos Xabel, 2019. "The quality-access tradeoff in decentralizing public services: Evidence from education in the OECD and Spain," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 295-316.
    7. Xoaquín Fernández Leiceaga & Santiago Lago Peñas & Alberto Vaquero, 2016. "Spanish fiscal federalism at the crossroad: A survey," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1601, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    8. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Andrey Timofeev, 2014. "Capital Infrastructure and Equity Objectives in Decentralized Systems," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1410, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    9. Köppl-Turyna, Monika & Strohner, Ludwig, 2023. "Reformoptionen des österreichischen Finanzausgleichs," Policy Notes 52, EcoAustria – Institute for Economic Research.

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