scholarly journals Fiscal Transfers in the Spatial Economy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-468
Author(s):  
Marcel Henkel ◽  
Tobias Seidel ◽  
Jens Suedekum

Many countries shift substantial public resources across jurisdictions to mitigate spatial economic disparities. We use a general equilibrium model with multiple asymmetric regions, labor mobility, and costly trade to carve out the aggregate implications of fiscal transfers. Calibrating the model for Germany, we find that transfers indeed deliver smaller disparities across regions. This comes at the cost of lower national output, however, because economic activity is diverted away from core cities and toward remote areas with low productivity. But despite this loss in output per capita by about 2 percent in our baseline specification, welfare still increases by 0.07 percent because the transfer scheme countervails overcongestion in large cities. If the optimal transfer regime was implemented, welfare would increase by 0.06 percent. (JEL H77, J61, R12, R13, R23)

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Clifford O. Odimegwu ◽  
Emmanuel O. Olamijuwon

Abstract The demographic changes occurring in Mali, evident in high fertility but declining mortality rates have raised optimism about the prospects of reaping demographic dividend. However, it remains unclear how soon and what policy scenario would yield the largest demographic dividend in the country. We used a demographic-economic model “DemDiv” to assess the prospects of reaping a demographic dividend in Mali by 2050. We illuminate this further by examining the cost and implications of different combination of education, family planning and economic policies. The results show that by increasing access to education, family planning services coupled with strong economic reforms, Mali’s GDP per capita will be $27,044 by 2050. This high per capita GDP is almost thrice the benefit of prioritising only economic reforms. Mali would also have a GDP of $977 billion. These findings highlight the need for sound demographic and market-oriented economic policies for Mali to reap a large demographic dividend by 2050.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5466
Author(s):  
Guangwei Huang

Urban sustainability refers to building and maintaining cities that can continue to function without running out of resources. However, growing cities require more land and urban sprawl has transformed surrounding rural areas into urbanized settlements. Furthermore, the prosperity of large cities depends on the supply of both natural and human resources from rural areas, either nearby or remote. On the other hand, the use of resources of rural areas by cities may cause negative externalities to rural areas, affecting their sustainability. Therefore, a critical, but very much neglected issue, is how unban sustainability should be pursued without affecting rural sustainability. In this study, cases in Japan and China were analyzed from resources and population migration perspectives to provide evidence for the possibility that urban sustainability might have been pursued at the cost of rural unsustainability. It was intended to develop a better understanding of urban sustainability through the lens of externalities. Based on the analysis, a new framework for urban sustainability study was proposed, which consists of three new pillars. Namely, externality, vulnerability, and population instability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajabali Daroudi ◽  
Ali Akbari Sari ◽  
Azin Nahvijou ◽  
Ahmad Faramarzi

Abstract Background Determining the cost-effectiveness thresholds for healthcare interventions has been a severe challenge for policymakers, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to estimate the cost per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted for countries with different levels of Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Methods The data about DALYs, per capita health expenditure (HE), HDI, and GDP per capita were extracted for 176 countries during the years 2000 to 2016. Then we examined the trends on these variables. Panel regression analysis was performed to explore the correlation between DALY and HE per capita. The results of the regression models were used to calculate the cost per DALY averted for each country. Results Age-standardized rate (ASR) DALY (DALY per 100,000 population) had a nonlinear inverse correlation with HE per capita and a linear inverse correlation with HDI. One percent increase in HE per capita was associated with an average of 0.28, 0.24, 0.18, and 0.27% decrease on the ASR DALY in low HDI, medium HDI, high HDI, and very high HDI countries, respectively. The estimated cost per DALY averted was $998, $6522, $23,782, and $69,499 in low HDI, medium HDI, high HDI, and very high HDI countries. On average, the cost per DALY averted was 0.34 times the GDP per capita in low HDI countries. While in medium HDI, high HDI, and very high HDI countries, it was 0.67, 1.22, and 1.46 times the GDP per capita, respectively. Conclusions This study suggests that the cost-effectiveness thresholds might be less than a GDP per capita in low and medium HDI countries and between one and two GDP per capita in high and very high HDI countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-163
Author(s):  
Ramon Christen ◽  
Nils C. Soguel

It is common practice to assign revenue to accomplish specific governmental tasks in general and to provide transport infrastructure in particular. However, neither the literature in public administration nor in public choice has reached a consensus about the effects that earmarking has on efficiency. Building on earlier public choice models, we argue that this mechanism prevents budget debates from occurring and reduces the incentives for ministers to monitor the colleagues whose budgets are financed by earmarked revenues. These latter tend to overuse public resources, thus increasing inefficiency. A stochastic frontier model fed with data from Swiss cantonal ministries of transport from 2000 to 2016 tests this hypothesis. The results reveal a negative effect of earmarking on efficiency. For every 1,000 additional Swiss francs per capita financed out of an earmarked fund, the input requirement increases by 5.4 percent on average.


Author(s):  
Ngoc Huong Lien Ha ◽  
Philip Yap Lin Kiat ◽  
Sean Olivia Nicholas ◽  
Ivana Chan ◽  
Shiou Liang Wee

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Living with dementia is challenging for persons with dementia (PWDs) and their families. Although multi-component intervention, underscored by the ethos of person-centred care, has been shown to maintain quality of life (QOL) in PWDs and caregivers, a lack of service integration can hinder effectiveness. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> CARITAS, an integrated care initiative provided through a hospital-community care partnership, endeavours to provide person-centred dementia care through ambulatory clinic consults, case management, patient and caregiver engagement, and support. We evaluated CARITAS’ clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness with a naturalistic cross-sectional within-subject design. We assessed patients’ function, QOL, and behavioural problems post-intervention. We estimated CARITAS’ cost-effectiveness from a patient’s perspective, benchmarking it against other dementia treatments and Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. <b><i>Results:</i></b> CARITAS care significantly improved health utility (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), reduced caregiver burden (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), and improved PWDs’ behavioural problems (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001) related to “memory” (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), “disruption” (<i>p</i> = 0.017), and “depression” (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). CARITAS’ benefits (<i>d</i><sub>RMBPC</sub> = 0.357, <i>d</i><sub>EQ5D index</sub> = 0.328, <i>d</i><sub>ZBI</sub> = 0.361) were comparable to those of other pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for dementia. CARITAS costs SG$133,056.69 per quality-adjusted life years gain, yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 1.31 and 1.49 against the cost of donepezil in patients with mild Alz­heimer’s disease and Singapore’s GDP per capita in 2019, respectively, falling within the cost-effectiveness threshold of 1.0–3.0. <b><i>Discussion:</i></b> CARITAS integrated dementia care is a cost-effective intervention that showed promising outcomes for PWDs and their caregivers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Christine M. Fray-Aiken ◽  
Rainford J. Wilks ◽  
Abdullahi O. Abdulkadri ◽  
Affette M. McCaw-Binns

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the economic cost of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (CNCDs) and the portion attributable to obesity among patients in Jamaica.METHODS: The cost-of-illness approach was used to estimate the cost of care in a hospital setting in Jamaica for type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, breast cancer, colon cancer, osteoarthritis, and high cholesterol. Cost and service utilization data were collected from the hospital records of all patients with these diseases who visited the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) during 2006. Patients were included in the study if they were between15 and 74 years of age and if female, were not pregnant during that year. Costs were categorized as direct or indirect. Direct costs included costs for prescription drugs, consultation visits (emergency and clinic visits), hospitalizations, allied health services, diagnostic and treatment procedures. Indirect costs included costs attributed to premature mortality, disability (permanent and temporary), and absenteeism. Indirect costs were discounted at 3% rate.RESULTS: The sample consisted of 554 patients (40%) males (60%) females. The economic burden of the nine diseases was estimated at US$ 5,672,618 (males 37%; females 63%) and the portion attributable to obesity amounted to US$ 1,157,173 (males 23%; females 77%). Total direct cost was estimated at US$ 3,740,377 with female patients accounting for 69.9% of this cost. Total indirect cost was estimated at US$ 1,932,241 with female patients accounting for 50.6% of this cost. The greater cost among women was not found to be statistically significant. Overall, on a per capita basis, males and females accrued similar costs-of-illness (US$ 9,451.75 vs. US$ 10,758.18).CONCLUSIONS: In a country with per capita GDP of less than US$ 5,300, a per capita annual cost of illness of US$ 10,239 for CNCDs is excessive and has detrimental implications for the health and development of Jamaica.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Satoła

This article describes investment activities of self-government territorial units. Its aim is to present the importance of investments for the provision of public services by municipalities. The opinions of the respondents about the causes of excessive or misguided investments and the ways of reducing their scale were presented. Surveys were conducted in 2015 and the temporal scope of the analysis is 2009–2014. The importance of investments for the provision of public services, shaping the living conditions of inhabitants, and conducting business activity were described. Based on that, overinvestment was identified as a negative trend in public resources management. The most frequent causes of excessive investment are megalomania of the municipality authorities and their desire to gain the support of the inhabitants (voters). Another important aspect is the lack of sufficient social control in the decision-making process regarding investment tasks execution. It was also demonstrated that overinvestment is due to the purpose of spending financial resources, not to the relative amount of investment expenses. Among the actions preventing excessive or misguided investments, the cost and benefit analysis was indicated the most often. Using strategic planning tools is also beneficial for the effectiveness of investing in self-government.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-30
Author(s):  
Elena Korol ◽  
Zarina Chipova

Urban motor transport complex engineering structures, the construction of which is carried out for a long time, and the cost is often tunnels of structures. Despite this, urban tunnels remain in demand as a means of solving transport problems, especially for large cities, in areas with dense urban development or an established architectural appearance, the violation of which is unacceptable. The construction of tunnels makes it possible to increase the throughput of highways, especially in places of large intersections, one of the diverting high-intensity transit traffic flows underground, making them invisible on the surface and thus not disrupting the existing historical appearance of the area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinko Miličević ◽  
Danijel Knežević ◽  
Zoran Bubaš

The problems in this paper belong to the field of migration and economy. The connection between migration and the economy has been proven on a global level, and as far as the Republic of Croatia is concerned, it is especially important to observe it through the City of Zagreb, which is the most important migration and economic center in the Republic of Croatia. Also, the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union emphasized the observation and research of this connection because it created the preconditions for freer movement and employment of the population of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb within the European Union. The aim of this paper is to determine the contribution of migration to the economic growth of the City of Zagreb. The hypothesis presented in the paper is that there is a significant contribution of migration to the economic growth of the City of Zagreb. The disposition of the paper consists of six parts. The introduction explains the relevance of the topic, states the aim of the paper and hypotheses, explains the empirical part, the contribution of the paper and the disposition. The second part of the paper refers to the theoretical framework of the impact of migration on economic growth. The third part of the paper presents the migration processes of the City of Zagreb in the period from 2011 to 2018. The fourth part deals with economic activity in the City of Zagreb in the period from 2011 to 2017. The observed indicators of economic activity in the City of Zagreb are GDP and GDP per capita, and the graph in this part of the paper shows that GDP and GDP per capita in the observed period are higher at the end of the period than at the beginning. The fifth part of the paper refers to the empirical research of the contribution of migration to the economic growth of the City of Zagreb. The empirical part of the paper is based on correlations and regression analyses. This paper proves the hypothesis because the results indicate a significant impact of the variables of total and external migration on the GDP of the City of Zagreb and GDP per capita of the City of Zagreb. Decision-makers in the City of Zagreb can use the results of the research as a basis for maximizing the economic benefits they can get from migration. The conclusion provides an overview of the aim of the work, the results of the research, the limitations, the implications and the recommendations for future research.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document