Centralized or decentralized financing of local governments? Consequences for efficiency and inequality of service provision

Lars-Erik Borge ()

Working Paper Series from Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Abstract: Compared with most countries the Norwegian system of financing local governments is highly centralized. Grants make up a substantial part of revenues and local taxes are highly regulated by the center. The development of the system was motivated by a desire to equalize service provision throughout the country. The purpose of this paper is to analyze possible consequences of more decentralized financing with local tax discretion. Contrary to the conventional wisdom the analysis indicates that decentralized financing is likely to give more equal provision of local public services. In addition, substantial efficiency gains can be obtained.

Keywords: Centralized financing; Decentralized financing; Tax discretion; Efficiency gains; Equalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D61 H71 H72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2006-12-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-pbe and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nst:samfok:7806

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