The Geography of Public Finance

This authoritative study, originally published in 1980, has become a classic examining who receives what benefit, where and at what cost, from public services. It develops a theoretical framework expanding on other classics of Pubic Finance, positioning its contribution as a guide to action on policies where local government, regions and spatial structures interplay with central and federal governments fiscal and distributional policies. It adopts an integrated approach to taxes, benefits and intergovernmental grants, drawing empirical examples from a wide range of countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and Europe (including aspects of EU policies). The examples demonstrate the tensions of federal/central with state/local policies and their relative resources, outlining policy and research agendas. Its theoretical framework provides a platform for understanding and assessing policy actions, as relevant today as in the 1980s.