Fiscal devolution and the accountability gap: budget scrutiny following tax devolution to Scotland

POLITICAL DEVOLUTION WITHOUT FISCAL DEVOLUTION by

Using a conventional model, this paper examines the conditions under which it is possible to stabilise both the output (inflation) cycle and the budget deficit/surplus of a regional economy in a wider currency union. We find that it is never possible. But we can approximate that result (for example, by limiting budgetary instability when the cycle is smoothed) if the product and labour markets ...

Devolution and health: challenges for Scotland and Wales.

On the Prospects for Policy Learning in Post-devolution Scotland

There is growing discomfort with existing arrangements of government. Citizens demand greater democracy and transparency. Communities seek more autonomy. Business leaders point an accusing finger at the lazy pace of governments. Interest groups are prodigious in showing displeasure with the way governments resolve their disputes and issues. The media are eager to report dissent and nurture mist...

Higher Education in Scotland and England after Devolution

The twentieth century saw a convergence of the Scottish and English systems of higher education. Since devolution in 1999 there has been divergence. English policy is based on differentiation and competition, while Scotland has favoured integration and more egalitarianism. Scotland has not followed England in introducing up-front tuition fees or top-up fees. These differences are consistent wit...

Autocracy, Devolution and Growth

Some autocracies are economically successful; others stagnate at low levels of production. Paradoxically, the latter ones appear to possess more natural resources and be more resistant to political change. This paper adresses a dynamic relation between the capital accumulation and the political regime in presence of resource rents. It argues that private capital accumulation increases an unfett...