Local Public Finance and Economics

Harry Kitchen is Professor Emeritus in the Economics Department at Trent University, Canada. Over the past twenty years, he has completed more than 100 articles, reports, studies, and books on issues relating to local government expenditures, finance, structure and governance in Canada. In addition, he has served as a consultant or advisor for a number of municipal and provincial governments in Canada and the federal government, and has worked on projects in Russia and China. In 2013, he was awarded a Queens Diamond Jubilee medal for policy analysis and research contributions to municipal finance, structure and governance in Canada. In 2017, he was appointed visiting scholar at the Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto.Melville McMillan is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics and a Fellow of the Institute of Public Economics at the University of Alberta, Canada.  McMillan’s research and teaching interests are in public economics, particularly urban and local economics, fiscal federalism, and the demand/supply of public goods and services. He has published in these areas and has advised governments and organizations nationally and internationally (e.g., the World Bank).  Although “retired,” McMillan remains actively involved in academic and policy matters.Anwar Shah is Senior Fellow (non-resident), Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA; advisor/consultant to the World Bank; and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu/Wenjiang, China. He has previously served the Government of Canada (Ministry of Finance), the Government of Alberta, and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has published more than two dozen books in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian languages and numerous articles in leading economic journals on governance, public management reforms, budget reform, federalism, local governance, fiscal reforms and global climate change issues.

“Local Public Finance and Economics: An International Perspective is a welcome and valuable addition on the subject. A book of this kind has been long overdue. … The book makes an interesting reading and has the potential to be a benchmark on the subject. … In addition, students and academicians in general and economists and political scientists in particular will immensely benefit from the book authored.” (V. N. Alok, Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 66 (3), 2020)

• 1. Local Public Finance and Economics – Theory and the Practice: An Introductory Overview.- 2. Expenditures and Revenue Assignment: Principles.- 3. Expenditure and Revenue Assignment: Practices.- 4. Structural Design.- 5. Expenditure and Service Delivery: Core Services and Regulation.- 6. Expenditures and Service Delivery: Social Services.- 7. Provision and Finance of Infrastructure.- 8. Local Taxation.- 9. Property Taxation: Principles.- 10. Local Income, Sales and Environmental Taxes.- 11. Charges and User Fees.- 12. Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers: Principles.- 13. Higher Order Fiscal Transfers to Local Governments: An Overview of Worldwide Practices.- 14. Higher Order Government Financing of Metropolitan Areas.