Ten original essays examine the political and institutional factors that influence the initiation and efficiency of preferential credit policies in Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil.

Fiscal systems throughout the world have been severely strained in recent years, as governments have assumed more responsibility for economic management. The developing counties, where needs are greatest and resources scarcest, have found their finances especially hard pressed. This book examines a range of issues in government finance that confront developing countries: the formulation and execution of national budget; the objectives, size, and effects of expenditures; the purposes and results of various ways of taxing income, wealth, consumption, exports, or natural resources; the role of foreign and domestic borrowings; and the consequences of financing by money creation. The book also relates fiscal operations to goals such as growth and development, economic stabilization, equitable distribution, and national self-reliance. The author stresses the need to take account of economic and political conditions and particularly administrative capacity when evaluating the suitability of fiscal measures in developing countries.

"This book argues that to fully grasp the decision-making of politicians and political actors in developing countries, we must first understand how politicians finance their campaigns for office-and to whom they are indebted and expected to repay. Political Financing in Developing Countries focuses on Ghana in depth, a country often held up as an example of a successful, two-party democracy with regular party changes in government. However, it is unlikely that candidates and political parties are wealthy enough to finance the increasing costs of campaigns and constituent demands, and successful democratic outcomes could be masking a system that actually hinders development progress. This book posits that political funds are extracted by an iron square of politicians, bureaucrats, construction contractors, and political-party chairs which rigs the procurement of local-development projects to generate kickbacks. The iron square remains robust across party changes in government due to reciprocity obligations that minimize contractors' income risks. Ultimately, this web of kickbacks diminishes the quality of development by reducing the funds available for projects and distorting incentives to monitor projects. To break this iron square, the book recommends replacing sealed-bid procurement-a "best practice" that ignores on-the-ground realities-with a system that accounts for income stabilization and social obligations. Overall, the book argues that scholars of development should advance research on political finance to identify and then alleviate the games that decision makers must play to survive in the political sphere. Political Financing in Developing Countries will be an important and timely resource for scholars across development studies, politics, economics, and African Studies"--

In Dance of the Trillions, David Lubin tells the story of what makes money flow from high-income countries to lower-income ones; what makes it flow out again; and how developing countries have sought protection against the volatility of international capital flows. The book traces an arc from the 1970s, when developing countries first gained access to international financial markets, to the present day. Underlying this story is a discussion of how the relationship between developing countries and global finance appears to be moving from one governed by the “Washington Consensus” to one more likely to be shaped by Beijing.

And Evaluation of Local Automotive Taxation. 8. Other Urban Taxes. Policy Objectives. Local Income Taxes. General Sales Taxes. Local Taxes on Industry, Commerce, and Professions. "Terminal" Taxes. Local Sumptuary Taxes. Entertainment Taxes. Minor Local Taxes, Licenses, and Fees. Summary and Evaluation -- Pt. III. User Charges for Urban Services. 9. Issues in Pricing Urban Services. The Efficiency Argument for User Charges. Fiscal Considerations and Full Cost Pricing. Income Distribution Considerations. The Politics and Institutions of Public Service Pricing. 10. Charging for Urban Water Services. Pricing Water Supply Services. Sewerage and Drainage. Summary. 11. Charging for Other Urban Services. Electricity and Telephone Services. Collecting and Disposing of Solid Waste. Mass Transit. Housing. Development Charges -- Pt. IV. Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations. 12. The Structure of Urban Governance. Fiscal Decentralization. The National Structure of Urban Government.

This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. It focuses on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money.

This book argues that to fully grasp the decision-making of politicians and political actors in developing countries, we must first understand how politicians finance their campaigns for office—and to whom they are indebted and expected to repay. Political Financing in Developing Countries focuses on Ghana in depth, a country often held up as an example of a successful, two-party democracy with regular party changes in government. However, it is unlikely that candidates and political parties are wealthy enough to finance the increasing costs of campaigns and constituent demands, and successful democratic outcomes could be masking a system that actually hinders development progress. Drawing on nearly 200 interviews and extensive fieldwork, this book posits that political funds are extracted by an iron square of politicians, bureaucrats, construction contractors, and political-party chairs which rigs the procurement of local-development projects to generate kickbacks. The iron square remains robust across party changes in government due to reciprocity obligations that minimize contractors’ income risks. Ultimately, this web of kickbacks diminishes the quality of development by reducing the funds available for projects and distorting incentives to monitor projects. To break this iron square, the book recommends replacing sealed-bid procurement—a "best practice" that ignores on-the-ground realities—with a system that accounts for income stabilization and social obligations. Overall, the book argues that scholars of development should advance research on political finance to identify and then alleviate the games that decision makers must play to survive in the political sphere. Political Financing in Developing Countries will be an important and timely resource for scholars across development studies, politics, economics, and African Studies.