There has been academic and policy concern about the financial capacity of administratively fragmented metropolitan areas to implement inclusive development measures and provide public services. Metropolitan public financing is problematic because there is a geographical mismatch between extended functional urban regions and administrative units. While local governments are responsible for implementing policies, spending, and raising revenues, financial capacity tends to differ across jurisdictions in response to economic, social and political factors, resulting in manifold disparities. Such variations can be particularly acute depending on the complexity and size of the metropolitan area, and can lead to major spatial disparities in the life standards of residents. This paper focuses on the local financial condition in Mexico City Metropolitan Area, which is often used to exemplify a fragmented metropolitan area. Official statistics from 1989 to 2018 are used to identify major intra-metropolitan variations in the financial condition of local governments. A novel methodology is used to classify municipalities according to their financial health, and discriminant analysis is used to explore the factors shaping the geography of financial performance. The economic and demographic size of municipalities appear to play a significant role.
AguilarG (2010) Capacidad tributaria y finanzas públicas metropolitanas en México. Estudios Demográficos Y Urbanos25(73): 103–132.
2.
Ángeles CastroGSalazar RiveraMPSandoval ContrerasL (2019) Federalismo fiscal y su efecto en el crecimiento y la distribución de ingresos. Evidencia para México. Gestión Y Política Pública28(1): 107–139.
3.
BahlRUnited Cities and Local Governments (2010) Financing metropolitan cities. In: Local Government Finance: The challenges of the 21st Century: Second Global Report on Decentralization and Local Democracy. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, pp. 285–307.
4.
BahlR (2013) The decentralization of governance in metropolitan areas. In: BahlRWLinnJFWetzelDL (eds) Financing Metropolitan Government in Developing Countries. 1st edition. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, pp. 85–105.
5.
BahlRLinnJF (2013) Governing and financing metropolitan areas in the developing world. In: BahlRWLinnJFWetzelDL (eds) Financing Metropolitan Government in Developing Countries. 1st edition. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, pp. 1–30.
6.
BirdR (2014) Reflections on measuring urban fiscal health. Municipal Finance Journal35(3): 47–78.
7.
BirdRSlackE (2005) Aspectos fiscales de la gobernabilidad metropolitana. In: Cuadrado-RouraJRFernández GüellJMRojasE (eds) Gobernar las Metrópolis. Washington, D. C.: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, pp. 263–347.
8.
BirdRMSlackE (2007) An approach to metropolitan governance and finance. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy25(5): 729–755.
9.
CabreroE (2004) Los Municipios Y Sus Haciendas Locales. Un Escenario De Carencias Y Oportunidades. Mexico City, Mexico: Premio Gobierno y Gestión Local México.
10.
CabreroEMartinez-VazquezJ (2000) Assignment of spending responsibilities and service delivery. In: GuigaleMWebbSB (eds) Achievements and Challenges of Fiscal Decentralization: Lessons from Mexico. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications, pp. 139–176.
11.
CenizalC (2015) Governing the Metropolis: The Evolution of Cooperative Metropolitan Governance in Mexico City´s Public Transportation. Masters Thesis. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
12.
CourcheneTDiaz-CayerosA (2000) Transfers and the nature of the Mexican federation. In: GiugaleMWebbS (eds) Achievements and Challenges of Fiscal Decentralization: Lessons from Mexico. Washington, DC: World Bank, pp. 200–236.
13.
ChernickHReschovskyA (2006) Local public finance: issues for metropolitan regions. In: OECD Competitive Cities in the Global Economy. París, France: OECD Territorial Reviews, pp. 415–432.
14.
ChernickHReschovskyA (2013) The Fiscal Health of U.S. Cities. Report. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
15.
DíazA (2015) La oportuna fragilidad del municipio en México: capacidades institucionales en el marco de un federalismo disfuncional. Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios Municipales(11): 145–172.
16.
EspinosaSMartínezJMartellC (2018) ¿Por qué algunos municipios en México son mejores recaudadores de impuesto predial que otros?Gestión Y Política Pública27(2): 375–395.
17.
FloresMD (2002) Federalismo fiscal y asignación de competencias: una perspectiva teórica. Economía Sociedad y Territorio3(11): 387–407.
18.
GordonT (2018) Predicting Municipal Fiscal Distress: Aspiration or Reality? Working Paper WP18TG1. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
19.
HengY (2008) Fiscal disparities and the equalization effects of fiscal transfers at the county level in China. Annals of Economics and Finance9(1): 115–149.
20.
Ibarra SalazarJGonzálezHSotres CervantesL (2013) Aspectos políticos de la dependencia financiera en los municipios mexicanos1. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales58(217): 139–170.
21.
INEGI (2015) Censos Y Conteos De Población Y Vivienda. Aguascalientes, Mexico: Instituto nacional de estadística y geografía.
22.
INEGI (2020) Finanzas Públicas Estatales Y Municipales. Aguascalientes, Mexico: Instituto nacional de estadística y geografía.
23.
JacobBHendrickR (2013) Assessing the financial condition of local governments. In: LevineHScorsoneEJusticeJ (eds) Handbook of Local Government Fiscal Health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
24.
JalomoF (2011) Gobernar el territorio entre la descentralización y la metropolización. Colección Graduados, Serie Sociales y Humanidades, Núm. 13. Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara.
25.
JusticeJBScorsoneEA (2013) Measuring and predicting local government fiscal stress. In: LevineHScorsoneEJusticeJ (eds) Handbook of Local Government Fiscal Health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
26.
KintoM (2009) Intermunicipalidad metropolitana y finanzas públicas: Un análisis de los determinantes del gasto público municipal en México. Urban Public Economics Review(11): 13–39.
27.
LevineHScorsoneEAJusticeJB (2013) Handbook of Local Government Fiscal Health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
28.
Marín OrigelY (2012) Diagnóstico del potencial recaudatorio municipal y análisis de alternativas de nuevas fuentes tanto estatales como municipales. Foro Hacendario(13): 10–14.
29.
McDonaldBIII (2017) Measuring the Fiscal Health of Municipalities. Working Paper WP17BM1. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
30.
Mendoza VelázquezA (2019) ¿Pueden las transferencias federales afectar el esfuerzo fiscal, la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas de los gobiernos locales? México 2003-2013. El Trimestre Económico86(342): 307–342.
31.
MezaJ (2004) La Coordinación Intergubernamental Para El Desarrollo Metropolitano En El Estado De México: El Caso De La Zona Metropolitana Del Valle De México. Madrid, España: IX Congreso del Clad.
32.
MoyaLA (2014) Implementación e impacto del fondo metropolitano: Análisis comparado de las zonas metropolitanas de Guadalajara y Valle de México. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública.
33.
MustreFKUrzúaCM (2017) La ley de coordinación fiscal en México: una crítica aritmética. Sobre México Temas de Economía1(3): 4–13.
OECD (2016) Subnational Governments in OECD Countries. Key data (brochure). Paris: OECD.
37.
RaichU (2006) Unequal Development: Decentralization and Fiscal Disparities in the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico. PhD Thesis. Cambridge, MA: Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
38.
RodríguezV (2009) Gasto público delegacional y marginación en el distrito federal. Dimensión Económica1(1).
39.
RosalesM (2012) Descentralización del Estado y Finanzas Municipales en América Latina. México City, Mexico: Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal.
40.
SantisS (2020) The demographic and economic determinants of financial sustainability: an analysis of Italian local governments. Sustainability(12): 1–16.
41.
SmokeP (2015) Urban government revenue: political economy challenges and opportunities. In: UN-Habitat, The challenge of Local Government Financing in Developing Countries. Nairobi, Kenya: UN-Habitat, pp. 34–53.
42.
Trejo NietoA (2020) Metropolitan Economic Development: The Political Economy of Urbanisation in Mexico. London: Routledge.
43.
Unda GutiérrezM (2018) Los límites de la recaudación predial en los municipios urbanos de México: un estudio de casos. Estudios Demográficos Y Urbanos33(3): 601–637.
44.
Unda GutiérrezM (2021) Una hacienda local pobre: ¿qué explica la recaudación predial en México?Estudios Demográficos Y Urbanos36(1): 49–88.
45.
Unda GutiérrezMMoreno-JaimesC (2015) La recaudación del impuesto predial: un análisis de sus determinantes económicos en el periodo 1969-2010. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales60(225): 53–84.
46.
YilmazYHooSNagowskiM, et al. (2006) Measuring Fiscal Disparities across the US States: A Representative Revenue System/Representative Expenditure System Approach, Fiscal Year 2002. New England Public Policy Center Working Papers. Boston, MA: The Urban Institute.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
