Fiscal Federalism: A Comparative Introduction is a concise introduction to the ways in which the world's federations manage their finances. Topics covered include the distribution of taxation powers among different levels of government; regional equalization schemes; authority over natural resource revenues; and the impact of federal systems of government on pension, welfare, and income assistance programs. The book targets second-, third-, and fourth-year courses in Federalism and Comparative Politics at the university level, and will also be useful for practitioners and civil servants.

Preface and Acknowledgements 1. An Overview of Fiscal Federalism 1.1 Political federalism 1.2 Fiscal federalism 1.3 Institutional variety of federalism 1.4 Fiscal arrangements and flexibility 1.5 Evaluation of federal fiscal regimes 2. Expenditure Responsibilities 2.1 Expenditure patterns in governments 2.2 Principles of expenditure assignment 2.3 Integrated or dualist federal systems 2.4 Spending power 2.5 Distribution of expenditure responsibilities 2.6 Mandates: Funded and unfunded 3. The Structure of Tax Regimes 3.1 Own-source, shared, and transferred revenues 3.2 Devolved versus centralized revenue raising 3.3 Assigning individual revenue sources 3.4 Concurrent tax bases and tax room 3.5 Tax competition 3.6 Tax harmonization 3.7 Tax administration 4. The Allocation of Specific Tax and Revenue Sources 4.1 Types and value of revenue sources 4.2 Personal income taxes 4.3 Corporate income taxes 4.4 Sales, value-added, and turnover taxes 4.5 Social insurance contributions and payroll taxes 4.6 Property taxes 4.7 Natural resource revenues 4.8 Licences and user charges 4.9 Other revenue sources 5. Intergovernmental Revenue Sharing and Transfers 5.1 The roles of revenue sharing and transfers 5.2 Legal provisions governing revenue sharing and transfers 5.3 Tax sharing versus fiscal transfers 5.4 Tax-sharing criteria 5.5 Sharing natural resource revenues 5.6 Conditional versus unconditional transfers 5.7 Horizontal fiscal inequalities 5.8 Equalization programs 5.9 Transfers to local governments 6. Economic Management in Federations 6.1 Fiscal federalism and macroeconomic management 6.2 Central banks and monetary policy 6.3 Fiscal policy coordination and stabilization 6.4 Debt management and fiscal responsibility laws 6.5 Microeconomic policy 6.6 Regional development 7. Institutional Arrangements and Issues 7.1 Fiscal forums and advisory commissions 7.2 Courts and dispute resolution 7.3 Asymmetric arrangements 7.4 Capitals, territories, and aboriginal peoples 7.5 Government enterprises 7.6 Corruption 7.7 Conclusion

George Anderson , President and CEO, Forum of Federations, Canada