Since the early of 1980s, the most Latin America countries has been process of decentralization characterized as an important factor to advance of democratization with economic and political reforms of central governments. Following the demise of developmental statism operated in the periods of military governments(1960s-1970s), this region has moved into structural change of government system between central and local ones. Reviewing this process, this thesis discovers the huge changes of pattern, especially in the local areas in Latin American societies. Firstly, the process of decentralization brought out a huge transfer of many public policies(e.g. education, health care, housing, transportation poverty reduction and welfare, etc.), finance and resource into the local governments, such as provinces, states and municipals. Secondly this thesis argues the concept of principle of subsidiarity and provides the conceptual backgrounds of decentralization and the causes of emerging local government in Latin America. Thirdly, this thesis focuses on the institutional change(constitution, local law, etc) to build up local government system. On the basis of the above arguments, this thesis moves into the another study of development patten of local government between and governmental one in this region. Beyond the old category for explaining the emerging of local government, such as administrative, financial and political decentralization process, this thesis develops more dualist patterns of local governments and brings out many variables for investigating the real pattern of government(legal status, average population size, metropolitan governance, inter-municipal collaboration, general powers, inter-governmental fiscal transfer system, financial control and audit, electoral system, ratio of citizens to elected officers, voters turnout and finally citizen participation). After analyzing these variables, this thesis observes the real development pattern of Latin American local governments and finalizes the current pattern remains the type of managerial one. In the conclusion, this thesis also challenges the current Latin American ways of democratic development with expanding of local governments, prospects and limits in the process of decentralization and the emerging of local governments.
Decentralisation and Reform in Latin America analyses the process of intergovernmental reform in Latin America in the last two decades and presents a number of emerging issues. These include the impacts of decentralization and the response of countries in the region to challenge such as social cohesion, interregional and interpersonal disparities, the assignment of social and infrastructure expenditure, macrofinancial shocks, fiscal rules and the sharing of natural resources revenue. The main aim of the book is to assess the effective working of decentralized arrangements and institutions, with a view of suggesting corrections and reforms where the system is not working according to expectations.
Jesús Ruiz-Huerta Carbonell, Miguel Ángel García Díaz
In Spain, as a consequence of the persistence of the economic crisis, the deficit and debt of the public administrations have become a main issue on the current economic and political debates In the case of a highly decentralized scenario, such it is the Spanish one, even if we recognize the principal role of Central Government´s debt, a large part of the increased Autonomous Communities’ deficit and indebtedness is explained by the difficulties they have to face in financing services they have to cover. The paper describes the main characteristics of public accounts’ disequilibria in Spain and the regulatory limits established to make use of public debt. Also, the article offers different explanations of those disequilibria, putting the emphasis on those linked to the crisis: i.e. the increasing weight of basic welfare services covered by the Autonomous Communities (such as public health and as education); as the expansive policies implemented to fight the initial effects of the crisis; as the existence of previous and large “extraordinary” resources coming from the housing sector and its consequent collapse; as growth of the debt of the autonomous-community quangos and as the lack of effective accountability mechanisms addressed to control the expenditures of the autonomous communities.
Los Cabildos Insulares canarios son organos degobierno y administracion de cada una de las islas.Desde la Ley de 11 de julio de 1912 hasta la actualidadhan adquirido un gran arraigo en la Administracionlocal de Canarias. Con el advenimiento del “Estadoautonomico” han enriquecido su naturaleza, puesto queno son solo corporaciones locales, sino instituciones dela Comunidad Autonoma (arts. 8. 2 y 23 del Estatutode Autonomia). Esto ha supuesto la plasmacion de unaopcion claramente descentralizadora, que erige a lasCorporaciones insulares en piezas esenciales delsistema, ya que disponen de un elenco decompetencias de evidente significacion. En el sigloXXI es claro que no seria razonable prescindir de estasinstituciones, al margen de la existencia de fuertescrisis economicas o de reformas organizativas, porquelos Cabildos ni tienen ni han tenido nunca la posicioninstitucional de las hoy cuestionadas Diputacionesprovinciales. The Canary Island Councils are organs of governmentand administration of each of the island. Since the Lawof July 11, 1912 to the present have acquired a greatimportance in the local government of the CanaryIslands. With the advent of the “Autonomous State”have enriched their nature, since they are not onlylocal corporations, but institutions of the AutonomousCommunity (arts 8.2 and 23 of the Statute ofAutonomy). This has involved the demonstration ofclear decentralization option, which stands to theIsland Corporations essential parts of the system, asthey have a list of competencies of significance. In theXXI century is clear that it would be unreasonablewithout these institutions, regardless of the existenceof strong economic crises or organizational reformsbecause the Councils neither have nor have ever hadthe institutional position of the Provincial questionedtoday.
Across this article we try to do a tour for the decentralized cooperation, for his characters, his principal virtualidades, the still hanging challenges and the innovations that this approach has experienced in the last years, since appeared in the Plan The Director 2009-2012 or the bet of the Autonomous Communities for collaborating with multinational organizations.
Juan de Dios Jiménez Aguilera, Roberto Montero Granados, Pedro Enrique Barrilao González, Elena Villar Rubio
La reforma del acuerdo de financiacion de las CCAA espanolas de 2009, en vigor desde enero de 2010, profundiza en la corresponsabilidad fiscal, ampliando la capacidad normativa de algunos impuestos y la participacion en las cuotas territorializadas del Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Fisicas (IRPF), el Impuesto sobre el Valor anadido (IVA) y algunos Impuestos Especiales (IIEE). Segun el mencionado acuerdo, el porcentaje descentralizado de la recaudacion por IVA y por impuestos especiales se distribuye entre las Comunidades Autonomas (CCAA) en funcion de indices de consumo territorializado mientras que la recaudacion por IRPF se distribuye en funcion de la cuota integra declarada por los sujetos pasivos residentes en cada Comunidad Autonoma (CA). Este articulo pretende mostrar evidencia sobre la traslacion del ingreso tributario entre regiones en los tres tributos debida, en parte, a que el ingreso se realiza en la CA del domicilio fiscal del sujeto pasivo independientemente de donde se produzca el hecho imponible. Las conclusiones justifican la distribucion del acuerdo por IVA e IIEE en funcion de criterios basados en el consumo territorializado, pero no asi la distribucion del tramo autonomico por IRPF que se distribuye en funcion del ingreso de los residentes. Since January, 2010, there's a new public financing agreement for the Spanish regions. This is based on the fiscal responsibility, expanding the regulatory capacity of some taxes and increasing the territorialized participation in the Income Tax (PIT), values added tax (VAT) and some special taxes (IISS). According to that agreement, the revenues decentralized of VAT and excise duties are distributed among the Autonomous Communities (CCAA) in terms of consumption rates, while the personal income tax revenue is distributed according to the amount declared by the persons living in each Autonomous Community (CA). This article treat on transfer of tax revenue between regions in the three taxes, due primarily that the tax pay is made in the CA of taxpayer's residence regardless of where the taxable event occurs. The findings justify the income distribution for IISS and VAT based on territorialized consumption, but not the regional distribution of personal income tax which is distributed according to revenue of residents.
As a way of decentralizing Public Sector, the Foral System is a clear example of Asymmetrical Federalism, since Foral Finance can apply tax measures which the rest of Spanish Autonomous Communities cannot use. From the perspective of Fiscal Federalism, the Foral System gives great tax autonomy to Subcentral Finance, but as a result the Central Government has almost no tax devices. Nowadays, this system presents serious problems regarding to the contribution to national public goods financing and the cooperation to economic stabilization. In quantitative terms, analyzing financial relations between the Foral System of Basque Country and Central Government as a whole, the paid amount underestimates more than 2500 million of euros a year the contribution of Foral Finance for period 2002-2006
Con ocasión de la promulgación de la Ley 15/2007, de 3 de julio, de defensa de la competencia, analizaremos los avances realizados en el proceso de descentralización iniciado en 1999. En noviembre de ese mismo año, coincidiendo con la fase final de la tramitación de la Ley 52/1999, de 28.12.1999, que reformó la Ley 16/1989, de defensa de la competencia, el Tribunal Constitucional dictó una sentencia en la que reconocía las competencias ejecutivas de las Comunidades Autónomas en materia de defensa de la competencia. Ello obligó al Gobierno a promover la elaboración de la Ley 1/2002, de 21 de febrero, de coordinación de las competencias del Estado y las Comunidades Autónomas en materia de defensa de la competencia. Posteriormente, en 2007, se llevó a cabo una importante reforma con la Ley 15/2007, de 3 de julio, de defensa de la competencia. En este artículo se analiza el proceso de descentralización y, en especial, el nuevo modelo de organización administrativa aprobado en España para la defensa de la competencia. Lehiaren Defentsari buruzko uztailaren 3ko 15/2007 Legea argitaratu dela eta, 1999. urtean hasitako deszentraliazio-prozesuaren baitan zer nolako aurrerapausoak izan diren aztertuko dugu. Urte horretan bertan, azaroan, 52/1999 Legea, urte bereko abenduaren 28koa, izapidetzeko azken pausoak ematen ari zirela (16/1989 legea eraldatu zuen), Konstituzio Auzitegiak emandako epai batean adierazi zuen autonomia-erkidegoek bazituztela lehiaren defentsaren arloko eskumen betearazleak. Epai horren ondorioz, Espainiako Gobernuak Lehia Babesteko Eskumenak Estatuaren eta Autonomia-erkidegoen Artean Koordinatzeko otsailaren 21eko 1/2002 Legea argitaratu behar izan zuen. Horren ostean, 2007an, Lehia Defendatzeko uztailaren 3ko 15/2007 Legearen bidez, erreforma garrantzitsua egin zen. Artikuluan deszentralizazio-prozesua aztertzen da, eta bereziki, Espainian lehia defendatzeko onartutako administrazio-eredua. This study takes advantage of the fact that Competition Act 15/2007, of 3rd July, has been passed to analyse the progress made in the process of decentralization started in 1999. In November of that year, as Act 52/1999 of 28th December 1999, which modified the Competition Act 16/1989, was going through the final procedural stages, the Spanish Constitutional Court announced a decision allowing the Autonomous Communities (Autonomous Regions) to exercise executive competences in protection of competition. This decision forced the government to draw up a law to co-ordinate the duties between the central administrative bodies and the newly-created autonomous bodies: the Act 1/2002 of 21st February, regarding Coordination of the State and Autonomous Communities¿ Competences on Competition Defence. Subsequently, in 2007, it has been an important amendment and Competition Act 15/2007 has been enacted. This article will analyse the process of decentralization and the model of administrative organization that has recently been approved in Spain for protection of competition. Towards a decentralizated administration for protection of competition in Spain.
This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are analyzed in depth, namely: tax assignment, equalization grants – i.e. redistribution of money from the wealthy regions or the national government to poorer regions, and the role of local governments in the administration of taxes.
This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are analyzed in depth, namely: tax assignment, equalization grants – i.e. redistribution of money from the wealthy regions or the national government to poorer regions, and the role of local governments in the administration of taxes.
Three years ago, a process of reform to the Statutes of Autonomy of some of the 17 Autonomous Communities that make up the model of politically decentralized State, designed by the Constitution of 1978, begun in Spain. Doubtless, the one that has sparked off more controversy in the legal and also the political grounds has been the Statute of Catalonia, approved since 2006. The subjects of greatest relevance have been those related to the incorporation of a Letter of Rights; the material and functional determination of the competences for the exercise of the self-government, as well as the relationships with the State, the European Union, and the financing system.
This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are analyzed in depth, namely: tax assignment, equalization grants – i.e. redistribution of money from the wealthy regions or the national government to poorer regions, and the role of local governments in the administration of taxes.
This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are analyzed in depth, namely: tax assignment, equalization grants – i.e. redistribution of money from the wealthy regions or the national government to poorer regions, and the role of local governments in the administration of taxes.
This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are analyzed in depth, namely: tax assignment, equalization grants – i.e. redistribution of money from the wealthy regions or the national government to poorer regions, and the role of local governments in the administration of taxes.
Peru is experiencing a deep political and fiscal decentralization process, especially since 2002. The newly created regional governments now share power and resources with the existing municipal governments as well as with the national or central government. The national government has transferred important responsibilities and fiscal resources to regional governments and also has reinforced local governments’ budgets. Both levels of subnacional governments have doubled their budget revenues in only five years. However, they are mostly financed by national government transfers instead of own collected taxes. This study analyzes in detail the functions as well as the fiscal resources of subnational governments in Peru. Based on this analysis, a set of proposals to increase direct income sources for both levels of government are discussed.
This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are analyzed in depth, namely: tax assignment, equalization grants – i.e. redistribution of money from the wealthy regions or the national government to poorer regions, and the role of local governments in the administration of taxes.
This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are analyzed in depth, namely: tax assignment, equalization grants – i.e. redistribution of money from the wealthy regions or the national government to poorer regions, and the role of local governments in the administration of taxes.
Contents:PrefaceNuria Bosch and Jose M DuranINTRODUCTION1. The Financing System of Spanish Regions: Main Features, Weak Points and Possible ReformsNuria Bosch and Jose M DuranPART I: TAX ASSIGNMENT2. Revenue Assignments in the Practice of Fiscal DecentralizationJorge Martinez-Vazquez3. Tax Assignment and Tax Autonomy in OECD CountriesHansjorg Blochliger4. Tax Assignment and Regional Co-responsibility in SpainJuan A. Gimeno UllastresPART II: FISCAL EQUALIZATION5. Fiscal Equalization: The Canadian ExperienceRobin Boadway6. Fiscal Equalization in GermanyThiess Buettner7. Fiscal Equalization in Spain Jesus Ruiz-Huerta Carbonell and Ana Herrero AlcaldePART III: TAX ADMINISTRATION8. Tax Coordination under the Canadian Tax SystemPaul Berg-Dick, Michel Carreau, Deanne Field and Mireille Ethier9. The Decentralisation of Tax Administration in Germany: ConsequencesAlexander Ulbricht10. Current Situation and Proposals for Reform of Spain's Tax AdministrationAlejandro Esteller MoreIndex
The present work tries to evaluate the present Law of Municipal Co-participation of the Province of Buenos Aires from the point of view of the capacity of financing of the cost of the municipal health sector in the Province of Buenos Aires. The "health component" explains the 37% of the distribution of the co-participable mass. The implicit "prices" of the selected variables, influence the "what" and "how" to produce goods in health. This is why the controversies between the fiscal objectives shaped in the normative variant of the method and the assigning eficiency of the sector, as well as the fairness in health, central objectives of the sanitary policy, are put in evidence. As a conclusion and after analysing the results of the distribution, I attempt to demonstrate that in a system of distribution of funds, where variables that try to partially measure the activity of a government function are included, where the criterion to repay the cost of the decentralized public services reigns, in the specific case of health it transforms into a signal that confirms and deepens the assigning inefficiency and the inequality in the distribution.
F. Pedraja-Chaparro, Javier Salinas‐Jiménez, Javier Suárez Pandiello
Summarizing twenty five years of Spanish local public finance is not an easy task. In 1978, the new democratic Constitution completely changed the face of public administration in Spain . Until then, and apart from some minor, unsuccessful attempts at decentralization during the Second Republic in the early thirties of the last century, the model of governance was based on a pure version of Napoleonic centralism. Nevertheless, the decentralization process initiated by the Constitution gave the regional governments (that is, created ex novo) a leading role. The aim of this process was to provide the regions with growing competences and responsibilities in relation to expenditure assignments, and to a lesser extent, in revenue assignments. This new tier of government received major political and administrative support while local jurisdictions remained in the background from which they are, however, presently showing signs of emerging.
espanolUno de los requisitos esenciales en todo sistema de financiacion descentralizado es la concesion de un grado suficiente de autonomia y corresponsabilidad fiscal a los gobiernos regionales, de modo que estos puedan financiar el nivel de bienes publicos locales que decidan sus ciudadanos En Espana, el sistema de financiacion de las comunidades autonomas de regimen comun incorporo un bajo nivel de corresponsabilidad fiscal entre 1980 y 1996, dada la asimetria entre una amplia descentralizacion del gasto y un modelo de cesion tributaria poco flexible. Desde 1997, y en especial a partir de 2002, la concesion de capacidad normativa y la ampliacion en la cesion tributaria han proporcionado un apreciable nivel de corresponsabilidad fiscal, en el que los tributos cedidos juegan el papel recaudatorio fundamental, constituyendo la imposicion propia un elemento mas de ordenacion economica que recaudatorio. EnglishOne of the essential requirements in any decentralized system of financing is the granting of a sufficient degree of autonomy and fiscal co-responsibility to the regional governments so that they may finance the level of local public amenities decided by their citizens. In Spain, the system of financing of the common regimen autonomous communities included a level of fiscal co-responsibility between 1980 and 1996, given the asymmetry between wide-scale decentralization of expenditure and an inflexible model of tax assignment. Since 1997, and especially from 2002, the conferral of legislative capacity and broader tax assignment have provided a considerable level of fiscal co-responsibility, in which the taxes assigned play an essential role in revenue collection, where the actual taxation is more an element of economic management rather than collection.
RESUMEN El desarrollo del modelo de descentralización fiscal español ha atravesado desde su inicio por diversas vicisitudes, de las cuales las últimas han ido siempre en la línea de incrementar la corresponsabilidad fiscal de los gobiernos subcentrales, bajo la hipótesis de que este incremento y la consiguiente mejora en la aplicación del principio de equivalencia por parte de los gobiernos tiende a mejorar la eficiencia en la asignación del gasto público. En este artículo se analizan las principales novedades de la reciente reforma del sistema de financiación local haciendo especial hincapié en sus efectos esperados sobre la corresponsabilidad fiscal. Las conclusiones alcanzadas son ambiguas en este sentido, por cuanto la práctica desaparición del IAE para muchos ayuntamientos y los efectos inciertos de la reforma sobre el indicador de esfuerzo fiscal apuntan en la dirección de menor corresponsabilidad fiscal, mientras que la ampliación de los topes máximos de tributación para la mayoría de municipios y la mayor discrecionalidad a la hora de establecer bonificaciones por razones diversas pudieran operar en sentido contrario. En todo caso, se apuntan graves deficiencias técnicas al nuevo modelo y se cuestiona seriamente la equidad y la eficiencia del nuevo modelo de transferencias, cuyo hito principal (la nueva participación en impuestos individualizados para los municipios de mayor dimensión) en modo alguno incrementa la corresponsabilidad fiscal. ABSTRACT The development of Spanish fiscal decentralization model has always aimed to increase the fiscal responsibility of sub-central governments, by hoping that the advances in the principle of equivalence tend to improve the efficiency of public expenditure. In this article the main novelties introduced by the recent reform of local financing system are analyzed, by focusing specially on their expected effects on fiscal responsibility. The conclusions are ambiguous. The eventual suppression of the Business Tax in many councils and the uncertain effects on the fiscal effort index seem to decrease fiscal responsibility. However, the higher availability to allocate reductions in local taxes and the faculty to reach higher rates in those taxes could have the opposite effects. Anyway, important technical deficiencies in the new model are pointed out and equity and efficiency of the new grants system are seriously questioned. Concretely, the main reform by including for the higher municipalities a new share on concrete central taxes (Income Tax, Value Added Tax, ...) does not increase at all fiscal responsibility.
This article discusses the importance of the Colombian decentralization process in recent decades as a central axis bearing the tax side: revenues and expenditures of central government and the local authorities. The author makes it clear that despite the advantages of this system in Colombia are multiple problems due to gaps in the regulation of various aspects of reality and especially in the field of finance, taxation and spending. In recent decades, decentralization has brought the phenomenon of overflow discharges from local authorities based on an unlimited autonomy, so the National Government, together with the Congress, has issued various rules to clean up finances at the central, regional and local levels.