Prior to establishing myself as a full-time consultant in July 2007 and establishing PF&D Solutions, I worked as an economics professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, one of the six colleges of Georgia State University). The Andrew Young School is ranked as one of the top-five public policy schools in the United States in the field of Public Budgeting and Finance.

Within the area of public finance, my research interests particularly focus on the analysis of intergovernmental transfer systems and other subnational financing arrangements. For instance, what is the best intergovernmental fiscal arrangement to provide and fund the delivery of public services? Are certain local government financing instruments more appropriate for funding social sectors activities at the local level versus other local government functions? What factors influence or determine the horizontal incidence of intergovernmental transfer mechanisms? How can an intergovernmental fiscal system best fund poverty-reducing activities?

		Fighting Corruption in the Public Sector by Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Javier Arze del Granado, and Jameson Boex Elsevier (2007) This book addresses the problem of how to fight corruption in the public sector. The study presents a comprehensive analysis of corruption that not only highlights the problems, but also potential solutions for a broad range of corruption manifestations in tax administration, government expenditure programs and other areas of fiscal policy and management. The analysis and discussion is supported and clarified by relevant real-world examples and empirical analysis. In particular, country-specific examples are used to identify key issues and valuable lessons for reducing corruption. As well as being a useful tool for researchers and graduate students interested in the problems of corruption in the public sector, this volume should also be of interest to government officials all over the world, policymakers in developing and transitional countries, bilateral and multilateral international aid institutions and NGOs.
		Local Government Financial Reform in Developing Countries : The Case of Tanzania by Jameson Boex and Jorge Martinez-Vazquez Palgrave-Macmillan (2006) Since 1999, Tanzania has been actively pursuing reforms of how the central government finances local government activities. Although local government authorities play a significant role in the delivery of key government services such as primary education and basic health care, the central government tightly controls the resources which it provides to the local government level. The book presents a detailed overview and analysis of the issues involved in developing and implementing local government finance reform in Tanzania, including the introduction of a formula-based system of intergovernmental grants.
		Reforming Regional-local Finance in Russia by Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev and Jameson Boex WBI Learning Resources Series (2006) The book provides a careful description of where Russia is today in developing fiscal federalism. By focusing mainly on regional-local finance, this book is intended to complement and in some ways update Russia’s Transition to a New Federalism (Martinez-Vazquez and Boex 2001). Thus, the shift of focus from the federal-regional relations reflects an evolution of the policy agenda in Russia. The exposition presents the key building blocks of federalism in a practical manner and provides more rigorous discussion in appendices to individual chapters. This assessment enables the authors to suggest options for reforms based on international practices and normative principles and identify some dangers contained in the pending reform proposals.
		Russia's Transition to a New Federalism by Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Jameson Boex WBI Learning Resources Series (2001) / Ves Mir (Russian) This book provides an in-depth analysis of the various dimensions of the Russian system of intergovernmental fiscal relations. The introductory chapter presents an overview of the historical and political dynamics of the decentralization process in the Russian Federation. Each subsequent chapter addresses a major component of the system of intergovernmental fiscal relations in Russia, notably expenditure assignment, revenue assignment, intergovernmental transfers, and subnational deficits and borrowing. The final chapter reviews the main issues in policy formulation faced by the Russian government reforming its system of intergovernmental fiscal relations.

Fighting poverty through fiscal decentralization by Jamie Boex, Eunice Heredia-Ortiz, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev and Guevera Yao USAID Fiscal Reform Project (2005) This study brings together the current state of knowledge of how fiscal decentralization –including the assignment of expenditure responsibilities, the assignment of revenue sources to subnational governments, intergovernmental fiscal transfers, and local government borrowing- effects poverty levels. Based on a better understanding of how these two thematic areas intersect, the study provides specific suggestions and recommendations how development agencies and international financial institutions can support fiscal decentralization reforms in a more pro-poor manner.

"Designing Intergovernmental Equalization Transfers with Imperfect Data: Concepts, Practices, and Lessons" (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez). In: Challenges in the Design of Fiscal Equalization and Intergovernmental Transfers. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Robert Searle (ed.), Springer (2007).

"The Current State of Decentralization Reform in Indonesia: A Postscript" (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez). In: Decentralization And The Rebuilding Of Indonesia - The 'Big Bang' Program and its Economic Consequences, James Alm, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, and Sri Mulyani Indrawati (eds.). Cheltenham, UK – Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing (2005).

"The Role of Economic versus Political Factors in the Incidence of Intergovernmental Transfers in Nigeria" (with James Alm), Journal of Developing Areas, forthcoming.

"An Assessment of Fiscal Decentralization Reform in Armenia" (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Andrey Timofeev), Problems of Economic Transition, 49(1), 5-50 (2006).

"An Assessment of Fiscal Decentralization Reform in Georgia" (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Michael Schaeffer), Problems of Economic Transition 49(1), 51-93 (2006).

"The determinants of the incidence of intergovernmental grants: A survey of the international experience” (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez), Public Finance and Management, Vol. IV(4)(2004).

"The incidence of local government allocations in Tanzania”, Public Administration and Development, 23: 1-11 (2003).

"Budgeting and Fiscal Management in Transition Economies" (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez), Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, 13(3): 353-96 (2001).

"Multi-Year Budgeting: A Review of International Practices and Applications for Developing and Transitional Economies" (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Robert McNab), Public Budgeting and Finance, 20(2): 91-112 (2000).

"Identifying the Attributes of Effective Economics Instructors", Journal of Economic Education, 31(3): 211-27 (2000).

"Croatia Adapts Tax System to Market Economy", (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez), Tax Notes International, Vol. 13(11): 839-43 (1996).

"Madagascar: An Overview of the Tax System Including Recent Reforms" (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez), International Bulletin for Fiscal Documentation, Vol. 50(1): 8 - 15 (1996).