Reforming federal fiscal relations in Austria

Author (Corporate)
Series Title
Series Details No.474, January 2006
Publication Date January 2006
Content Type

This paper reviews the fiscal relations between the three levels of government in Austria and points to the scope for reforming them with a view to improving the efficiency of the public sector. Key areas of public sector activity are subject to complex relations across the three layers of government. Fragmentation of decision-making in some spending programmes, such as hospital
care and social assistance benefits, needs to be overcome, concentrating financing and spending responsibilities on one government level. Strengthening co-operation between municipalities as well as amalgamations of small municipalities would allow advantage to be taken of scale economies in the provision of local government services. Stronger tax-raising powers of the municipalities and the states, reform of tax sharing rules and improved budgeting procedures would raise the ability of sub-national governments to match the supply of services to local demand patters and improve accountability to voters.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2006doc.nsf/linkto/ECO-WKP(2006)2
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