Three essays on fiscal equalisation: convergence, sustainability, and reform

This doctoral dissertation, named after “Three essays on fiscal equalisation: convergence, sustainability, and reform” is composed of three chapters. All of them address issues surrounding fiscal equalisation, both at regional or local level, and from a different perspective and methodological appro...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Montes Nebreda, Andoni
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/132032
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/132032
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:336.1/.5(043.2)
Hacienda Pública
5301.02 Hacienda Pública (Presupuesto)
Descripción
Sumario:This doctoral dissertation, named after “Three essays on fiscal equalisation: convergence, sustainability, and reform” is composed of three chapters. All of them address issues surrounding fiscal equalisation, both at regional or local level, and from a different perspective and methodological approach.Should fiscal equalisation and regional policy goals and tools be disentangled?We exploit the mixture of policy goals and instruments of the Spanish Regional Funding System (RFS) to test whether equalisation transfers have an impact on regional convergence. Using Random Effects (RE) and two-stage least squares estimation with instrumental variables (2SLS-IV) models and data for 15 regions for the period 2002-18, we find that both fiscal equalisation and regional transfers show a significant concave convergence-promoting effect, which is larger for regional transfers. However, funding excess/deficit caused by overlapping tools and objectives in the RFS does not have a significant relationship with regional convergence. These results are in line with the Tinbergen rule, since it is more cost-effective to promote regional convergence through regional policy funds...