Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
effects (Spain) or from short-term external alterations in economic geography
(United States, Canada). In so doing, it proves the contrast between “punctu-
ated equilibrium theory” and long-term, cumulative sources of change to be a
false dilemma. A full understanding of the origins and evolution of fiscal struc-
tures requires both perspectives. A historical perspective is critical to appreciate
the importance of initial conditions and to properly grasp endogenous sources
of change such as feedback effect. Attention to historical processes allows us
to identify natural experiments, that is, situations in which an external event
alters economic geography and forces political agents to engage the possibility
of adjusting fiscal structures. Natural experiments cannot be identified with-
out a genuine historical perspective (Diamond and Robinson
2010
). And the
determinants of political agency cannot be properly identified without natural
experiments, leaving the engines of history in the dark. These perspectives are
complements, not opposites. This topic illustrates the benefits of combining
them as a way to better grasp the links between actors, contextual factors, and
institutions over time.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOPIC
Chapter 2 develops the theoretical framework of the topic. It approaches the
choice of fiscal institutions as a process in which different members of the union
show contending preferences over both the decentralization of interpersonal
redistribution and the level of interregional redistribution. Such a choice, I
show, is driven by the interplay between economic geography and political
representation on the one hand, and the scope of mobility on the other.
Chap-
ter 3
bridges the theoretical and empirical parts of the topic by motivating the
research strategy to evaluate the empirical implications of the argument.
Chapters 4
through
7
present a series of in-depth case studies in the spirit
outlined previously.
Chapter 4
focuses on the origins and evolution of the
European Union's fiscal structures.
Chapter 5
Applies the theoretical argument
of the topic to the puzzle of the differing responses by Canada and the United
States to the challenges posed by the Great Depression.
Chapter 6
takes on
the remarkable continuity of Germany's fiscal structure after the Reunification
in the early 1990s. Finally,
Chapter 7
studies the evolution of Spain's fiscal
structure since the transition to democracy in 1978.
The variation along the representation scale between the EU, the United
States, Canada, Spain, and Germany sheds light on the determinants of fiscal
structures. As a necessary complement to these efforts,
Chapter 8
addresses
the problem of generalizability by developing a rigorous statistical scrutiny
of the main empirical implications of the theory. Finally,
Chapter 9
draws
together the central findings of the project, elaborates on their implications,
both theoretical and practical, and discusses the project's limitations as poten-
tial lines for further scholarly inquiry.
