ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses in turn each of the five ways by which the national government has channelled funds to the provinces in Argentina: revenue sharing, national treasury contributions, direct national spending, royalties for mineral extraction, and industrial promotion schemes. As in most modern federal systems, the national government in Argentina turns over taxes it collects to the provincial governments, more or less without any strings attached. The underdeveloped interior of Argentina receives a disproportionate share of coparticipation funds, the program's funds are not distributed solely based on degree of underdevelopment. Of the eighty-six minerals known to exist in Argentina, forty-four are considered strategic, and their development, at least until the early 1990s, was the sole responsibility of the federal government. A final characteristic of Argentina's regional promotion policies is that they fortified oligopolistic power. The chapter concludes with a summary measure of the national government transfers to the provinces.
