Federalismo Fiscale, dinamica della spesa in conto capitale e processi di interazione spaziale: alcune evidenze empiriche

A growing number of countries throughout the world are reconsidering the role and functions of the various levels of government in order to make public policies more effective in meeting the needs of citizens by firmly pursuing administrative devolution. This paper analyses regional interactions in the dynamics of capital public expenditure based on the estimates of a dynamic gravity model (Dendrinos-Sonis,1990) using the database on Italian Regional Public Accounts (RPA) in the 1996-2007 period. This empirical model allows for the analysis of dynamic relations of a horizonal nature (i.e., between various regions) and vertical nature (i.e., between various levels of government) compared to the interest variable to determine whether they are based mainly on competitive or complementary interactions. The implications of these results within the wider debate on fiscal federalism currently under way in Italy are assessed in the analysis alongside the evaluation of the sensibility of results.