Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources

The Australian system of horizontal scal equalization (HFE) transfers output from low to high cost states. This paper develops a standard model of a federation with an imperfectly mobile population and states which capture economic rents from natural resources and recycle the revenue on the basis...

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Main Author: Petchey, Jeffrey
Format: Working Paper
Published: Curtin University 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.curtin.edu.au/research/crae/publications/working-paper-series/index.cfm
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/40754
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author Petchey, Jeffrey
author_facet Petchey, Jeffrey
author_sort Petchey, Jeffrey
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The Australian system of horizontal scal equalization (HFE) transfers output from low to high cost states. This paper develops a standard model of a federation with an imperfectly mobile population and states which capture economic rents from natural resources and recycle the revenue on the basis of residency. A federal agency, which can be thought of as mimicking the role of the Commonwealth Grants Commission, chooses an inter-state transfer to maximize national social welfare. The contribution of the paper is to show that under the assumptions of the model, the optimal transfer to a state is increasing in its costs, for given costs in other states. This supports the notion of inter-state transfers in favour of high cost states. However, the result does not necessarily validate the magnitude of transfers that we see in practice in the Australian federation.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-407542017-01-30T14:45:29Z Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources Petchey, Jeffrey inter-governmental differentials and - their effects federal state relations intergovernmental relations federalism The Australian system of horizontal scal equalization (HFE) transfers output from low to high cost states. This paper develops a standard model of a federation with an imperfectly mobile population and states which capture economic rents from natural resources and recycle the revenue on the basis of residency. A federal agency, which can be thought of as mimicking the role of the Commonwealth Grants Commission, chooses an inter-state transfer to maximize national social welfare. The contribution of the paper is to show that under the assumptions of the model, the optimal transfer to a state is increasing in its costs, for given costs in other states. This supports the notion of inter-state transfers in favour of high cost states. However, the result does not necessarily validate the magnitude of transfers that we see in practice in the Australian federation. 2016 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/40754 http://www.curtin.edu.au/research/crae/publications/working-paper-series/index.cfm Curtin University fulltext
spellingShingle inter-governmental differentials and - their effects
federal state relations
intergovernmental relations
federalism
Petchey, Jeffrey
Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources
title Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources
title_full Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources
title_fullStr Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources
title_full_unstemmed Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources
title_short Inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources
title_sort inter-state transfers for cost differences in federations with population mobility and natural resources
topic inter-governmental differentials and - their effects
federal state relations
intergovernmental relations
federalism
url http://www.curtin.edu.au/research/crae/publications/working-paper-series/index.cfm
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/40754