Local Public Finance: An International Comparative Regulatory Perspective

✍ Scribed by René Geissler (editor), Gerhard Hammerschmid (editor), Christian Raffer (editor)

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 354
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book is based upon a comparative public administration research project, initiated by the Hertie School of Governance (Germany) and the Bertelsmann Foundation (Germany) and supported by a network of researchers from many EU countries. It analyzes both the regimes and the practices of local fiscal regulation in 21 European countries.
The book brings together key findings of this research project. The regulatory discussion is not limited to the prominent issue of fiscal rules but focuses on every component of regulation. Beyond this, the book covers affiliated topics such as the impact of regulation for local governments, evolution of regulation, administrative costs and crisis prevention. The various book chapters throughout provide a broad picture of local public finance regulation in theory and in practice, using different theoretical and national lenses for the analysis. Furthermore, the authors investigate the effects of budgetary constraints and higher-level regulatory efforts on local governments and on democracy and public services in every European country. This book fills a gap with respect to the lack of discussion on local government finance from an international, comparative perspective and, in particular, the regulation of local public finance. With its mix of authors, this book will be useful for practitioners as well as for scholars and for theory-driven research.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Editors and Contributors
Introduction: The Relevance and Conceptualisation of Local Finance Regulatory Regimes
1 The Relevance of Local Government Finance
2 Financial Decentralisation: Needs and Consequences
3 Fiscal Decentralisation Trends in Europe
4 Key Components of Regulatory Regimes
5 Guiding Questions and Chapter Previews
6 Conclusion and Outlook
References
Part I: Concepts of Regulation
Budget Institutions for Subnational Fiscal Discipline: Local Fiscal Rules in Post-Crisis EU Countries
1 Introduction
2 Definition, Types and Design
3 Evolution, Rationale and Costs
3.1 History and Evolution
3.2 Rationale
3.3 Arguments for and against Fiscal Rules
4 Literature Review
5 European Fiscal Crisis and Local Fiscal Rules in EU Member States
6 Conclusions and Lessons
Appendix
References
Fiscal Rules at the Local Level: The Challenge of Enforcement
1 Introduction
2 Six Insights from Regulatory Enforcement
3 Enforcement Styles Across Europe
4 Back and Forth: The History of Enforcement in North Rhine-Westphalia
5 Conclusion
References
Financial Supervision of Local Governments: An Organisational Hurdle
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Framework and Research Design
2.1 Theoretical Argument
2.2 Methodological Approach
3 Analysis
3.1 Task Ownership
3.2 Administrative Structures: (De-)Centralisation and (De-)Concentration
3.3 Special Stakeholders in Fiscal Supervision
4 Discussion and Conclusion
References
European Patterns of Local Government Fiscal Regulation
1 Introduction
2 Literature
3 Method and Data
4 Results
5 Discussion and Conclusion
Annex: Additional Methodological Information
Baseline Conditions
Use of Baseline Conditions to Develop Strength Indices
Fiscal Rules Strength Index
Supervision Strength Index
Overall Regulatory Strength Index
Additional Information about the Data
References
Local Public Finance Regulation in Southeast Europe: A Comparison of Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia
1 Introduction
2 Local Governments´ Structure and Functions
3 Local Governments´ Finance
4 Components of Regulatory Regimes
5 Conclusion
References
The Impact of Fiscal Rules on the Financial Management of Municipalities: A Comparative Analysis of the Czech Republic and Slo...
1 Introduction
2 The Emergence of Municipalities and Fiscal Rules in the Czech Republic and Slovakia
2.1 Municipal System and Fiscal Rules in the Czech Republic
2.2 Municipal System and Fiscal Rules in Slovakia
3 Impact of Fiscal Rules on the Financial Conditions of Czech and Slovak Municipalities
4 Conclusion
References
Monitoring Local Government Financial Sustainability: A Dutch-English Comparison
1 Introduction
2 England
2.1 Constitutional Arrangements
2.2 History on Use of FSIs
2.3 Current State of the Use of FSIs
2.4 Case Study: Northamptonshire County Council
3 The Netherlands
3.1 Constitutional Arrangements
3.2 History on Use of FSIs
3.3 Current State of Use of FSIs
3.4 FSIs and Recent Cases of Intensified Supervision
4 Conclusions
References
The Implementation of Fiscal Regulation: Insights from Germany
1 Introduction
2 Instruments and Organisational Structure
3 Supervisory Practice
4 Conclusion
References
Fiscal Supervision and Party Politics: Lessons from Austria and Germany
1 Introduction
2 Theory
3 Country Case Studies
3.1 Austria
3.2 Germany
3.3 Other Countries and Layers of Government
4 Conclusion
References
Part II: Bailouts and Insolvency
Preventing Local Government Defaults: No-Bailout Policy and Its Alternatives
1 Introduction
2 European Insolvency and Bailout Policies
3 Tools to Prevent Fiscal Difficulties
3.1 Sufficient Funding
3.2 Pressure from Stakeholders
3.3 Fiscal Rules
3.4 Supervision
3.5 Early Intervention
3.6 Costly Bailout
4 Successful Policy Mixes
4.1 Bailouts in Practice
4.2 How to Avoid Bailouts
4.3 How Not to Do It
5 Conclusions and Discussion
References
Municipalities and Excessive Debt: Local Insolvency Regimes as an Alternative to Bailouts?
1 Introduction
2 The Benefits and Pitfalls of Local Insolvency Procedures from a Theoretical Perspective
3 Local Insolvency Regimes in Europe and the USA
3.1 The USA
3.2 Hungary
3.3 Italy
3.4 Switzerland
4 Conclusion
References
Four Decades of Municipal Bailouts in Germany
1 Introduction
2 Historic Overview of Municipal Bailouts
2.1 1980-1991: First Municipal Bailouts in North Rhine-Westphalia
2.2 1991-2009: Local Budget Crises Throughout Germany
2.3 2009-2017: Municipal Bailouts in the Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis
2.4 Since 2017: A Second Generation of Municipal Bailouts
3 Discussion
3.1 Different Designs of Municipal Bailouts
3.2 Explaining the Differing Timing of Municipal Bailouts
3.3 Impacts of Bailouts
4 Conclusion
References
Part III: Local Public Finance in Times of Crisis
Global Crisis, Local Impact: A Comparative Approach to the Financial Crisis´ Impacts on European Local Levels
1 Introduction
2 How Global Crisis Might Transmit into Local Governments
3 Impacts of the Financial Crisis on Local Governments in European Countries
3.1 Direct Impacts
3.2 Indirect Impacts
4 Conclusion
References
Fiscal Consolidation in German and Greek Local Governments: Reform Attempts, Supervision and Local Measures
1 Introduction
2 Comparing Local Government (Finance) in Germany and Greece
3 Reform Attempts and Fiscal Measures at State and National Levels
3.1 Territorial Reforms
3.2 Changes in Allocation of Functions and Grants
3.3 Fiscal Supervision and Bailout Programmes
3.4 Local Fiscal Consolidation Measures
4 Conclusion
References
Financial Decisions, Intergovernmental Grants and Regulatory Instability: The Case of Italian Municipalities
1 Introduction
2 Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development
2.1 LGs Revenues and Expenditures Decisions in Times of Crisis
2.2 State Grants Influence on LGs´ Expenditure and Revenue Decisions
3 Regulatory Instability for Italian Municipalities after the Crisis
4 Method
4.1 Sample and Variables
4.2 Statistical Methodology
5 Results and Discussion
6 Conclusion
References
Insights from City Financial Realities: Comparing and Learning Across Borders
1 The Need for Cross-Border Learning Among Cities to Foster Financial Sustainability in the EU
2 The CEFG Group and Its Burning Issues
2.1 Financial Strategies and Risk Management for Infrastructure Investments
2.2 Assessing the Level of Revenue Risk
2.3 General Financial Risk Management for Cities
3 A Nearly Harmonized Financial Health Template for the Local Government Level
3.1 Background Considerations for the Template
Dilemma 1: Government Financial Statistics Versus Government Financial Reporting
Dilemma 2: Traditional Accounting Systems Versus New Public Management Approaches
Dilemma 3: Contrasting Measures of Financial Sustainability in Local Governments
Dilemma 4: The Jurisdiction Perimeter and Consolidation of Accounts
3.2 Accounting Systems Used and the Reporting Perimeter
3.3 Comparing Across the Borders: The CEFG Group´s Financial Health Template
Hybridization of Accounting Information
Key Financial Ratios
4 Conclusion and Perspectives
References
Taking Stock: The Role of the Institutional Context for Local Government Financial Resilience
1 Introduction
2 A Resilience Perspective on Financial Shocks
2.1 Evolution of (Empirical) Financial Resilience Research
3 Resilience Framework and Dimensions
4 The Role of the Institutional Context in Shaping Financial Resilience: Taking Stock
5 Conclusion and Outlook
References
Local Government Tax Structure
1 Introduction
2 Optimal Taxation at Local Government Level
2.1 On the Optimality of Dominant Tax Types
2.2 How Should an Optimal Local Tax Structure Look Like?
3 Local Government Tax Structures Across Europe
3.1 Local Governments´ Tax Revenue
3.2 Tax Structures
3.3 Tax Structure Dynamics and Reforms
3.4 Tax Structure Changes
3.5 Property Taxes
3.6 Beyond Revenue Statistics: An Alternative View
4 Discussion and Conclusion
Annex 1: OECD Tax Autonomy Indicators: A Quick Overview
Annex 2: European System of Accounts ESA 2010
References