Fiscal Federalism in Canada, the USA and Germany

Abstract

The intergovernmental financial arrangements in three federations – Canada, the United States and Germany – are compared. Among the aspects compared are the constitutional and political context, the allocation and the scope of federal, state and local revenues and expenditures, the nature and scope of intergovernmental transfers, equalization arrangements and systems of tax harmonization and collection. The three systems are assessed in terms of a variety of economic and political criteria.