Maria Luisa Esteve Pardo

Maria Luisa Esteve Pardo is a Full Professor in the Department of Public Law at the University of Girona, Faculty of Law, specializing in Financial and Tax Law. She earned her Doctorate in Law from the University of Barcelona in 1997 and has held professorial positions at both the University of Barcelona (since 2001) and the University of Girona (since 2008). She is the principal investigator of several nationally funded research projects and a member of the consolidated Research Group on Public Law Analysis, with a focus on financial and tax law.

Education:

• Doctor of Law, University of Barcelona (1997)

Her research interests center on financial and tax law, particularly in the context of local government autonomy and fiscal sustainability. She investigates public-private collaboration mechanisms like BIDs and ECAs, reforms in local taxation, and the financing of essential public services such as social services. Her work addresses the legal and fiscal challenges faced by local administrations during periods of economic crisis, aiming to strengthen institutional autonomy through equitable funding models.

Her recent research trends reflect a sustained focus on the intersection of public law, fiscal policy, and local governance, with an emphasis on institutional reform and fiscal resilience. She has led multiple multi-year research projects funded by Spain's national R&D programs, demonstrating continuity and depth in her scholarly contributions.

Scientific Awards:

• No awards explicitly mentioned in the text.

She has supervised research and served as principal investigator on significant grants, including:

• Public-private collaboration and fiscal consolidation: BIDs and ECAs (DER2015-65148-C2-1-P, 2016–2018)
• Reorganization and financing of local competences in a context of economic crisis (DER2012-39216-C02-02, 2013–2016)
• The reform of local haciendas and the strengthening of the guarantee of local autonomy (DER2009-14265-C02-02, 2010–2012)
• Problems and alternatives in the financing of local public services: The case of social services (SEJ2006-15616-C02-02/JURI, 2006–2009)

She has undertaken research stays at leading international institutions, including the London School of Economics and Political Science (2008–2009), Northwestern University School of Law (2010), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (2015), and the Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (2005).

She is a member of the consolidated Research Group on Financial and Tax Law, contributing to collective scholarship in public law. Her work bridges doctrinal legal analysis with policy-relevant research on fiscal federalism and local governance.