Measuring expenditure needs and public safety transfers in Mexico.

Abstract

In this paper we deal simultaneously with two crucial problems in today’s Mexico: a fiscal federalism that is seriously-flawed in the allocation of transfers to the local governments and the large number of offences linked with organized crime, a category in which the country is among the highest ranking. In this paper we suggest a more equitable and effective allocation of public safety transfers to state governments. The proposal is based on measuring expenditure needs through the method of principal components.