Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints
Title | Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints PDF eBook |
Author | Jonathan Rodden |
Publisher | MIT Press |
Pages | 502 |
Release | 2003 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 9780262182294 |
A multi-country study of the conditions under which decentralized countries might ensure fiscal discipline.
Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints
Title | Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints PDF eBook |
Author | Jonathan Rodden |
Publisher | |
Pages | |
Release | 2012 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
Since the early 1980s fiscal and political decentralization have spread around the world. But decentralization can encourage dangerous opportunistic behavior by state and local officials. Left unrestricted, such opportunism can undermine macroeconomic stability and other objectives. The most pressing manifestation of this problem is the softening of subnational budget constraints. The impact of decentralization on public sector efficiency and macroeconomic stability depends on a country's ability to prevent lower-level governments from passing on their liabilities to higher-level governments. This note draws on 11 countries to identify institutional factors associated with hard and soft budget constraints and extract policy lessons for other countries.
The Challenge of Fiscal Decentralization in Transition Countries
Title | The Challenge of Fiscal Decentralization in Transition Countries PDF eBook |
Author | Era Dabla-Norris |
Publisher | International Monetary Fund |
Pages | 50 |
Release | 2002-06 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN |
This paper examines key aspects of the ongoing decentralization process in transition economies and identifies areas where the present systems can have potentially adverse impacts on both service delivery and macroeconomic performance. We discuss three critical principles of a sound and efficient decentralized fiscal system-and then show the contrasts between these and actual trends and policies in transition countries.
Fiscal Decentralization and Budget Control
Title | Fiscal Decentralization and Budget Control PDF eBook |
Author | Laura von Daniels |
Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
Pages | 221 |
Release | 2016-03-25 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 1783475951 |
How can governments control spending pressure from influential groups, often representing powerful regional interests? This book is concerned with institutional solutions that allow modern nation states to balance historically grown cultural, political and economic diversity. Laura von Daniels combines different literatures in economics and political science, and draws on interviews with former government leaders, and country experts from international organizations. She applies this research to topics such as fiscal institutions and budget balances, presenting a critical review of different institutional approaches to resolving fiscal imbalances and public indebtedness. Students and scholars of various disciplines, including politics, public and social policy, economics and business will find the discussions and detailed description of institutional reforms in emerging market nations to be of use to their research. It will also be of interest to practitioners working on fiscal decentralization and budget control.
Intergovernmental Relations and Fiscal Discipline: Between Common Tax Resources and Soft Budget Constraints
Title | Intergovernmental Relations and Fiscal Discipline: Between Common Tax Resources and Soft Budget Constraints PDF eBook |
Author | Guiseppe Pisauro |
Publisher | INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND |
Pages | 30 |
Release | 2001-05-01 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9781451848687 |
Fiscal decentralization is likely to entail a bias in the budget process toward higher public expenses and deficits. The paper reviews lessons drawn from the theoretical literature and international experience on the design of intergovernmental relations. The institutional setup should address the dual problem of "common tax resources" and "soft" budget constraints, where policies devised to correct one problem may exacerbate the other. An approach based on full tax autonomy of lower-tier governments and reliance on market discipline, not supplemented by self-imposed constitutional limits, is not advisable. More effective seems to be a cooperative approach with some preeminence granted to the central government.
Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries
Title | Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries PDF eBook |
Author | Roy Bahl |
Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
Pages | 430 |
Release | 2018-03-30 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 1786435306 |
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.
Decentralization and the Provision of Public Services
Title | Decentralization and the Provision of Public Services PDF eBook |
Author | Aehyung Kim |
Publisher | World Bank Publications |
Pages | 27 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | Banks and Banking Reform |
ISBN |
Abstract: This paper discusses decentralization (administrative, fiscal and political) of government in public service provision. It aims to facilitate understanding among practitioners, policy makers, and scholars about what decentralization entails in practice compared to theory. A review of the empirical literature and experience of decentralization is presented. The paper highlights issues that policy makers in developing and transitional countries should be aware of when reforming government, considering their unique political and economic environment. The author argues that decentralization produces efficiency gains stemming from inter-jurisdictional competition, enhanced checks and balances over the government through voting at the subnational level, and informational advantages due to proximity to citizens. By contrast, arguments against decentralization include the risk of an increased level of corruption, coordination problems stemming from multiple layers of government, low capacity of subnational government, and unproductive inter-jurisdictional competition. Decentralization itself does not render increased government effectiveness in public service provision. Instead, the effectiveness of government largely depends on the quality of human capital and institutions.