Cette thèse s’articule en trois essais qui contribuent à la littérature en économie politique des pays en voie de développement. Le premier chapitre étudie l’impact des distorsions dans la representation législative des provinces au sein du Congrès argentin dans la distribution des revenus fédéraux. Le chapitre 1 est coécrit avec Sebastián Galiani (University of Maryland) et Gustavo Torrens (University of Indiana). En utilisant trois types de variations exogènes dans la representation legislative des provinces on montre que des changements dans le nombre de sièges n’a aucun effet sur le montant de révenus fédéraux que chaque province reçoit. Le deuxième chapitre (co-écrit avec S. Galiani et G. Torrens) analyse la dynamique des réformes structurelles dans les pays en voie de développement, en présence d’organisations internationales pourvoyeuses de fonds. Nous développons un modèle dynamique où on montre que ces organisations modifient l’équilibre politique et peuvent induire des pays à sur-reformer et les exposer à un cycle de réformes et contre-réformes. Le troisième chapitre de cette thèse étudie l’impact des nouvelles technologies d’information sur le comportement politique des jeunes en Argentine. J’analyse l’impact d’un programme de distribution d’ordinateurs portables ciblé aux étudiants des écoles secondaires, qui ont voté pour la première fois après une baisse de l’age du droit de vote à 16 ans. Je trouve que l’accès au programme a un effet négatif dans leur taux de participation aux élections; des données complementaires montrent que l’utilisation qu’ils donnent aux ordinateurs est plutôt de divertissement, un fait qui conduit au désintérêt en politique. / This thesis consists of three essays on the political economy of developing countries. Chapter 1 « Fiscal Federalism and Legislative Malapportionment: Causal Evidence from Independent but Related Natural Experiments » (cowritten with S. Galiani and G. Torrens) investigates the impact of distortions in districts' representation in the Argentine Congress on the distribution of federal tax resources. Exploiting exogenous variations in the provinces' legislative representation, we show that changes in the share of seats do not result in changes in the share of federal tax resources each district gets. Chapter 2, entitled « International Organizations and Structural Reforms » (co-written with S. Galiani and G. Torrens), we analyze the dynamics of structural reforms in developing countries in the presence of international organizations that fund reforms. We develop a dynamic model in which we show that these organizations alter the local political equilibrium and may incentivize countries to over-reform. This, in turns, leaves countries prone to suffer violent cycles of reform and counter-reform. In chapter 3, « Computers and Youth Political Participation », I study the impact of new information technologies on the political behavior of young people in Argentina. I analyze the effect of a laptop distribution program aimed at high school students who voted for the first time after voting age was lowered to 16. My analysis show that exposure to the program is associated with a decrease in turnout rates of teenagers, and I present evidence that suggests that this may be due to increased entertainment use of computers, which eventually leads to apathy in politics.

Структура магистерской диссертации включает в себя введение, три главы, заключение, список использованных источников. В первой главе рассмотрены теоретические основы и законодательная база предоставления субвенций бюджетам бюджетной системы Российской Федерации. Во второй главе исследованы методические основы и проведен анализ предоставления субвенций региональным и местным бюджетам на примере консолидированного бюджета Свердловской области. В третьей главе предложены пути совершенствования порядка предоставления субвенций на финансовое обеспечение расходных обязательств субъектов РФ и муниципальных образований. В заключении сформированы основные выводы. / The structure of the master's thesis includes an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, and a list of sources used. The first chapter discusses the theoretical foundations and legislative framework for the provision of subsidies to the budgets of the budgetary system of the Russian Federation. The second chapter explores the methodological foundations and analyzes the provision of subventions to regional and local budgets on the example of the consolidated budget of the Sverdlovsk region. The third chapter proposes ways to improve the procedure for providing subventions for financial support of expenditure obligations of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities. In conclusion, the main conclusions are formed.

Unfunded public pension and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) liabilities impose major threats to local fiscal sustainability, which increases governments' default risk and crowds out funding for essential local services. To close the funding gaps, localities may apply a wide range of fiscal instruments, including increasing taxes, fees, and user charges, issuing debt and bonds, obtaining grants and/or decreasing expenditures. This research compares the US local fiscal choice behavior in the context of the fiscal federalism framework. The goal is to identify the ideal mix of constitutional fiscal rules to preserve local fiscal sustainability. Not only should the rules aim to minimize local adverse fiscal behavior pre-crisis, which may include excessive spending, large accumulations of unfunded liabilities, and over-reliance on external grants, but also allow strong local fiscal adaptive capacity post-crisis. The findings help localities identify any effective and prudent fiscal options available to close their pension funding gaps and contribute to the overall sub-national fiscal institutional reforms. Theoretically, this research introduces a novel analytical framework pertaining to local fiscal sustainability by separating pre-crisis and post-crisis institutional analysis and by consolidating two historically viewed as two competing paradigms, public choice and public finance. I argue that the two approaches are complementary rather than contradictory since public choice theory sets up an institutional prerequisite for normative outcomes to be realized and prevents the occurrence of extreme circumstances. The ideal mix of formal fiscal rules, thus, should induce the balanced budget rule that applies to all budget items, stringent spending and debt limits, and institutionalized local tax authority and stable tax structure, but not tax limits. Tax limits are less effective in constraining government than spending and debt limits due to fiscal gimmicks. Moreover, stringent tax limits could significantly limit local governments' ability to bounce back on their own. This research also found that cities do apply different fiscal strategies to reduce exogenous shocks, given their unique fiscal institutions in place. Furthermore, cities with fewer institutional constraints exhibit a faster speed of adjustment. However, certain institutional variables, such as public union size and tax authority, might not have the same fiscal implications as predicted by the theory. Cities often manage to cut their short-term spending regardless of the size of their public unions. A broad range of tax authority does not imply greater local revenue-generating capacity. Own source revenue autonomy might be a better indicator of local fiscal adaptive capacity. / Doctor of Philosophy / Unfunded public pension and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) liabilities impose major threats to local fiscal sustainability, which increases governments’ default risk and crowds out funding for essential local services. To close the funding gaps, localities may apply a wide range of fiscal instruments, including increasing taxes, fees, and user charges, issuing debt and bonds, obtaining grants and/or decreasing expenditures. This research compares the US local fiscal choice behavior in the context of the fiscal federalism framework. The goal is to identify the ideal mix of constitutional fiscal rules to preserve local fiscal sustainability. Not only should the rules aim to minimize local adverse fiscal behavior pre-crisis, which may include excessive spending, large accumulations of unfunded liabilities, and over-reliance on external grants, but also allow strong local fiscal adaptive capacity post-crisis. The findings help localities identify any effective and prudent fiscal options available to close their pension funding gaps and contribute to the overall sub-national fiscal institutional reforms. Theoretically, this research introduces a novel analytical framework pertaining to local fiscal sustainability by separating pre-crisis and post-crisis institutional analysis and by consolidating two historically viewed as two competing paradigms, public choice and public finance. I argue that the two approaches are complementary rather than contradictory since public choice theory sets up an institutional prerequisite for normative outcomes to be realized and prevents the occurrence of extreme circumstances. The ideal mix of formal fiscal rules, thus, should induce the balanced budget rule that applies to all budget items, stringent spending and debt limits, and institutionalized local tax authority and stable tax structure, but not tax limits. Tax limits are less effective in constraining government than spending and debt limits due to fiscal gimmicks. Moreover, stringent tax limits could significantly limit local governments’ ability to bounce back on their own. This research also found that cities do apply different fiscal strategies to reduce exogenous shocks, given their unique fiscal institutions in place. Furthermore, cities with fewer institutional constraints exhibit a faster speed of adjustment. However, certain institutional variables, such as public union size and tax authority, might not have the same fiscal implications as predicted by the theory. Cities often manage to cut their short-term spending regardless of the size of their public unions. A broad range of tax authority does not imply greater local revenue-generating capacity. Own source revenue autonomy might be a better indicator of local fiscal adaptive capacity.

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical research on the efficient assignment of policy tasks to different levels of government and applies the results on the delimitation of competences within the European Union. The main results are: (i) A precise derivation of an optimal degree of decentralisation is not possible because of mixed theoretical suggestions. The adequate degree of decentralisation has to be detected case-by-case. (ii) Systematic evidence on direct relationships between economic performance and fiscal decentralisation is ambiguous and scarce. (iii) Comparing the de facto delimitation of EU-competences with the normative recommendations, remarkable discrepancies arise in the fields of agriculture and defence. (iv) The establishment of a flexible assignment-scheme by the European Convention is an undeniable necessity in order to guarantee reversibility and to cope efficiently with changing general conditions. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

The thesis describes realization effects of the project "Třeboň - rozvoj lázeňské infrastruktury" on the ammount of tax income in the city, especially with focus on the development of the part of tax incomes. These incomes receives the city as a share of tax incomes from self-employed persons (by law of budget determination of taxes No 243/2000 Sb.). According to this law each commune receives 30 % of tax from self-employed subjects, which have place of residence in the territory of this commune. This share of the tax is called as "motivation component" and it should motivate communes to create new business opportunities to increase own incomes. The focus of this thesis is an effect assessment of realization of this project on the size of tax incomes in the city Třeboň. There is the model of fiscal federalism introduced in the theoretical-methodological part. This model is used wide in the whole Czech republic to describe incomes of comunes - especially tax incomes. In the practical part there is a description of the implemented project and its effect on particular targets, for example effect on size of income of local taxes and effeck on growth of employment. The main section of the practical part is the evolution analysis of the "motivation component". This evolution of "motivation component" is compared with the evolution of business subjects, which are registered in the city Třeboň (including the description of the regressive evolution).

A presente tese de doutorado analisa, de forma crítica, como as receitas de recursos naturais devem ser arrecadadas, distribuídas aos entes federativos e aplicadas no Direito Financeiro Brasileiro. Para tanto, parte-se do exame dos contornos econômicos e políticos da exploração de recursos naturais, apresentando breve histórico sobre a cobrança de royalties no estrangeiro, da evolução da legislação brasileira sobre as compensações financeiras, discutindo então a natureza jurídica destas receitas públicas no direito pátrio. Com base nessas premissas, apresentam-se considerações gerais sobre a concentração geográfica de recursos naturais e o dilema da repartição de receitas provenientes da exploração destes recursos nas federações, procedendo-se então ao estudo do modelo de repartição federativa de receitas de compensações financeiras adotado pelo Brasil. Reconhecendo-se a constante evolução deste modelo e apontando-se suas virtudes e seus defeitos, desenvolve-se uma avaliação de proposições normativas de mudanças dos critérios atualmente adotados, especialmente no que diz respeito à equalização fiscal enquanto elemento de promoção de desenvolvimento subnacional e redução das desigualdades inter-regionais e intrarregionais, bem como de coesão política nacional. Finalmente, são discutidos os aspectos teóricos e práticos da aplicação das receitas oriundas da exploração de recursos naturais, bem como analisada a prática brasileira. Com fundamento nesta análise, as vinculações legais das receitas de recursos naturais e a constituição de fundos públicos financiados por estas receitas são avaliadas no contexto brasileiro. As conclusões preliminares desses pontos informam, então, o estudo sobre o papel relevante do controle de contas, da fiscalização e da transparência fiscal na promoção da eficiência e da justiça do gasto público no contexto das receitas de recursos naturais. / This doctoral thesis presents a critical analysis of the collection, intergovernmental distribution and expenditure of natural resource revenues under Brazilian Public Finance law. In order to provide a comprehensive discussion of such proposition, the thesis first examines the economic and political aspects of the natural resources industry, then presents a brief historical overview of natural resources royalties under both comparative and Brazilian law and continues with an analysis of the legal status of royalties in Brazil. Building on such premises, the thesis proceeds with general remarks on the geographical concentration of natural resources in federal countries and on decentralization arrangements for royalties, as well an on the Brazilian revenue sharing instruments. Acknowledging the continuous evolution of these instruments and evaluating their costs and benefits, a discussion on alternative revenue sharing arrangements is presented, especially regarding the promotion of equalizing goals and political cohesion among subnational units of governments in Brazil. Finally, the thesis discusses the theoretical and practical aspects of public expenditures of royalty revenues, presenting an analysis of the Brazilian praxis. Building on this analysis, an evaluation of revenue earmarking procedures and natural resources funds is presented. The preliminary conclusions therein enable a discussion of accountability, public auditing and fiscal transparency in the context of natural resources revenue expenditures.

A melhoria das condições de vida é o objetivo principal da migração individual, mas seu resultado pode ser o oposto. Esta dissertação estuda as implicações da migração em duas distintas e importantes literaturas. A tradição do Federalismo Fiscal sugere que a migração pode levar à ampliação das disparidades regionais. Em muitos casos, a ação individualmente racional é coletivamente irracional, resultando em pior qualidade de vida para o imigrante. A Nova Geografia Econômica sugere que a migração funciona para quem migra, mas pode novamente resultar em aumento das disparidades regionais. A partir da crítica a alguns dos pressupostos destas duas teorias, é apresentado um modelo em que a migração aumenta a desigualdade na região de atração, devido à desigual propriedade da terra. / The improvement of living standards is the main objective of individual migration, but its results can be opposite. This dissertation studies the implications of migration in two distinct and important literatures. The Fiscal Federalism tradition suggests that migration can lead to severing regional and social disparities. In many cases, the individually rational decision is collectively irrational, resulting in a worse living standard for the immigrant. The New Economic Geography suggests that migration do work for the migrating people, but still can result in an increase in regional disparities. After some critiques to assumptions and hypotheses of those two theories, it is presented a model in which the migration increases inequality in the attractive community because of the land ownership.

A concepção tradicional de federação remete à possibilidade de uma melhor organização do Estado, proporcionando-lhe maior desempenho na execução da atividade financeira para satisfazer as necessidades públicas em níveis mais eficientes. As estruturas federativas existentes no mundo, porém, apresentam diferenças entre si e vários são os elementos que contribuem para essa ocorrência, motivo pelo qual não se pode conceber um modelo único de federação, imune a deficiências e problemas. Um Estado federado, dependendo do padrão de federação que adote (mais descentralizado ou menos descentralizado, por exemplo), pode não ser capaz de solucionar questões de vital interesse à sociedade. Na presente tese de doutorado, o autor analisa as características da federação brasileira e procura perscrutar se existe relação entre a estrutura do federalismo fiscal adotada no Brasil e a ocorrência de desvios de recursos públicos, dentre os quais os deflagrados por atos de corrupção. A preocupação contida no estudo não é apenas a de investigar essa relação, mas a de avaliar suas possíveis causas, analisando de forma criteriosa os níveis de descentralização presentes na federação e o grau de autonomia dos entes federados. No primeiro capítulo são discutidos o conceito, características e classificação dos Estados federais, a importância da federação para a atividade financeira estatal, os princípios do federalismo fiscal e as funções fiscais alocativa, distributiva e estabilizadora. A investigação sobre a possibilidade da existência de vínculo entre o desvio de recursos e o tipo de estrutura do federalismo fiscal é objeto de análise no segundo capítulo, no qual também serão expostas definições e características de condutas que tendem a provocar o mencionado transviamento, tais como o rent-seeking (comportamento caçador de renda), o patrimonialismo, o clientelismo, o coronelismo e a corrupção. O terceiro capítulo cuida da análise do arcabouço do federalismo fiscal brasileiro e procura examinar se os níveis de descentralização presentes no país são adequados para uma perfeita relação entre os entes subnacionais e o governo central, bem como se essa estrutura impede ou estimula as ocorrências de desvios de recursos públicos. No quarto capítulo, as hipóteses contidas nos capítulos anteriores são demonstradas por meio da análise do processo orçamentário federal (mais especificamente em relação às consequências advindas da elaboração da lei orçamentária anual) e das transferências intergovernamentais no Brasil. / The traditional conception of a federation leads us to the possibility of a better organized Government, capable of satisfactorily performing the financial activity in order to meet the public needs at more efficient levels. However, the federative structures existing worldwide today are quite different from each other and various are the elements contributing to such occurrence and this is why we cannot conceive one single federation model unaffected by deficiencies and problems. A federate Union, depending on the federation model adopted thereby (either a more or less decentralized one, for instance), may be unable to solve issues of vital interest to the society as a whole. In this dissertation, the author analyzes the characteristics of the Brazilian federation and seeks to scrutinize whether there is a relation between the fiscal federalism structure adopted in Brazil and the occurrence of deviation of public funds, including those triggered by corruption acts. Rather than simply investigating such relation, this dissertation is concerned with evaluating the possible causes for deviation of public funds, minutely examining the levels of decentralization present in the federation and the degree of autonomy among the federated entities. In chapter one, the author discusses the concept, characteristics and classification of the federal states, the importance of the federation for the financial activity performed by the Government, the principles of fiscal federalism and the allocable, distributive and stabilizing fiscal functions. Whether there is a connection between the deviation of funds and the type of structure of fiscal federalism is investigated in chapter two, where definitions and characteristics of conducts prone to cause the mentioned deviation are expounded by the author, such as rent-seeking, patrimonialism, clientelism, coronelismo and corruption. In chapter three, the author analyzes the framework of Brazilian fiscal federalism and examines whether the levels of decentralization existing in Brazil are proper for a perfect relation between the subnational entities and the central Government, as well as whether such structure either impedes or otherwise fosters the occurrences of public fund deviation. Chapter three demonstrates the hypotheses contained in the previous chapters by means of an analysis of the federal budgetary process (more specifically in relation to the consequences derived from preparation of the annual budgetary law) and intergovernmental transfers in Brazil.

Esta dissertação versa sobre o controle do endividamento dos Estados, do Distrito Federal e dos Municípios, analisando as questões jurídicas daí decorrentes em face da sua autono-mia. São examinados em primeiro lugar conceitos e classificações relacionados à dívida pública. Posteriormente, é exposta a relevância do endividamento para a atividade finan-ceira dos entes subnacionais, e as razões que tornam necessário o seu controle pela União, a fim de preservar a estabilidade econômica. Noutro giro, são analisados os quatro métodos de controle do endividamento dos entes subnacionais vigentes em diferentes países, com o aprofundamento dos métodos vigentes no Brasil. Por fim, após incursão histórica na evolu-ção da dívida dos entes subnacionais, analisam-se dispositivos da Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal cuja constitucionalidade é discutível por ferir a autonomia dos Estados, do Distrito Federal e dos Municípios. / This dissertation is about the control of borrowing of the States, Federal District and Mu-nicipalities and analyses legal issues arising therefrom in light of their autonomy. Firstly, concepts and classification related to the public debt are analyzed. Later, the relevance of borrowing for the financial activity of subnational governments and the reasons that make its control by the Federal government necessary in order to preserve economic stability are exposed. In another turn, the four methods of borrowing control of the subnational gov-ernments in force in different countries are analyzed and the methods in force in Brazil are deepened. Finally, after the historical raid in the evolution of debt of the subnational gov-ernments, provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which constitutionality is questiona-ble for violating the autonomy of the States, Federal District and Municipalities are also studied.

Cette thèse a pour but de contribuer à la connaissance des facteurs et processus politiques agissant sur les finances des collectivités locales. Cette problématique est étudiée à partir d'une analyse empirique des comptes des communes françaises. Les deux premiers chapitres de cette thèse visent à étudier les liens entre décideurs politiques de différents échelons de pouvoir public et leur impact sur l'allocation territoriale de fonds publics d'investissement. L'analyse se concentre sur les subventions d'investissement reçues par les municipalités, et montre un impact important du cumul des mandats ainsi que de la carrière d'élu local des responsables politiques nationaux sur l'allocation de ces transferts. Le troisième chapitre de cette thèse vise à évaluer l'impact des inégalités de revenu au niveau municipal sur les décisions de finance publique locale. Cette analyse s'inscrit dans une abondante littérature en Économie Politique visant à déterminer l'impact de la distribution des revenus sur les processus de décision publique. Les résultats montrent un rôle significatif des inégalités de revenu sur les niveaux d'infrastructure publique municipale et de taxation locale. / This thesis aims at bringing new knowledge on political factors and processes affecting local governments. This investigation is made through an empirical analysis of French municipalities’ accounts. The first two chapters of this thesis investigate the impact of links between politicians of different tiers of government on the territorial allocation of public investment funds. The analysis focuses on discretionary investment grants received by municipalities. Evidence shows an important impact of multiple office-holding, and a significant influence of top national politicians’ career in local councils on the allocation of these transfers. The third chapter of this thesis aims at studying the impact of local income inequality on local public decisions. This work contributes to an important literature in Political Economy on the impact of income distribution on political processes. Evidence suggests a significant role of income inequality on local public investment and local taxation.