In this study, we analyse the performance of the past four Finance Commissions on their stated objectives of achieving equity and efficiency in the inter se shares to states via their respective horizontal devolution mechanisms. The results indicate that the stated objectives have not been adequately addressed in the recommendations, and the constant changing of criteria has mainly served to maintain stability in the inter se shares over the past 20 years. Additionally, we argue that the methodology used for fiscal discipline needs to be revisited and a more comprehensive, multi-dimensional approach may be considered in the future.

中文翻译：

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横向下放：财委兑现了吗？

在这项研究中，我们分析了过去四个财政委员会在通过各自的横向权力下放机制实现相互间股份的公平和效率的既定目标方面的表现。结果表明，建议中未充分解决既定目标，而标准的不断变化主要是为了维持过去 20 年来相互间份额的稳定性。此外，我们认为需要重新审视用于财政纪律的方法，未来可能会考虑采用更全面、多维度的方法。