CIRJE-F-28. Mochida, Nobuki and Jorgen J. Lotz, "Fiscal Federalism in Practice, the Nordic Countries and Japan", November 1998.

The paper compares the decentralization of the public sector in Japan and in the Northern European countries. The background for this comparison is the strong similarities existing in the basic conditions for decentralization: both are countries with homogeneous populations, with shared values, and with strong preferences for equity. But some differences emerge. On the expenditure side, the decentralization in both cases seem to be moving toward the other of the present two systems. On the revenue side, the tax autonomy of local governments in the Northern European countries could perhaps be of some interest for Japan. It offers a way to combine local efficiency and differentiation with control by accountability.