Who has the most resources to govern? A comparison between states and local governments per capital revenue

ABSTRACT This paper examines differences in per capita revenues across Brazil’s states and capital municipalities. It provides a theoretical overview of Brazil’s fiscal equalization programs (the State and Municipal “Participation” Funds). The paper then provides evidence that these programs are not only failing to meet their equalization objectives, but in addition they are creating distorted patterns of revenues per capita across states and municipalities: some economically poor states and municipalities have revenues per capita far above the national average. This pattern of revenues per capita should be brought to the public’s and policy makers’ attention so that they may: (i) better evaluate the performance of state and local governments, and (ii) better evaluate proposals for revising Brazil’s system of fiscal federalism.

摘要
本研究考察巴西各州及首府直辖市的人均财政收入差异。本文首先对巴西的财政均等化计划（fiscal equalization programs）——即州级与市级‘参与基金’（Participation Funds）——进行了理论综述。随后本文提供实证证据表明，此类计划不仅未能达成财政均等化目标，反而在各州及直辖市间造成了人均财政收入的扭曲分布格局：部分经济欠发达的州与直辖市的人均财政收入远高于全国平均水平。此类人均财政收入分布格局理应引起公众与政策制定者的重视，以便二者能够：(一) 更全面地评估州级与地方政府的履职绩效；(二) 更审慎地评估修订巴西财政联邦制（fiscal federalism）体系的相关提案。