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Author: Kent Eaton Publisher: World Bank Publications ISBN: 9780821388402 Category : Decentralization in government Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This volume presents a framework designed to help international development partners consider the relevance of political economy issues for their programmatic support to decentralization and local government reform. The intention is neither to advocate decentralization in general or in any particular form, nor to presume or privilege any particular decentralization objective. Instead, the purpose is to document the potential value of better understanding how (primarily national and intergovernmental) political and institutional dynamics do or could affect the scope for realizing decentralization reforms aligned with commonly advocated service delivery, governance, and poverty reduction goals. The underlying premise is that systematic analysis of these issues can productively complement the dominantly technical diagnostic work typically carried out by development partners. Specifically, development partners can benefit from better understanding the practical significance of motives that drive politicians and bureaucrats to support or oppose reform at various stages of the decentralization process, from making an initial reform decision to detailed design and implementation. In addition, the authors address how these incentives can weaken, strengthen, or shift in response to changes in political and economic conditions that arise after reform begins. A general approach to conducting political economy of decentralization analysis is outlined, recognizing the need to tailor such analysis to the particular country context. This volume is based on literature reviews and knowledge derived from selected country experiences.
Author: Kent Eaton Publisher: World Bank Publications ISBN: 9780821388402 Category : Decentralization in government Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This volume presents a framework designed to help international development partners consider the relevance of political economy issues for their programmatic support to decentralization and local government reform. The intention is neither to advocate decentralization in general or in any particular form, nor to presume or privilege any particular decentralization objective. Instead, the purpose is to document the potential value of better understanding how (primarily national and intergovernmental) political and institutional dynamics do or could affect the scope for realizing decentralization reforms aligned with commonly advocated service delivery, governance, and poverty reduction goals. The underlying premise is that systematic analysis of these issues can productively complement the dominantly technical diagnostic work typically carried out by development partners. Specifically, development partners can benefit from better understanding the practical significance of motives that drive politicians and bureaucrats to support or oppose reform at various stages of the decentralization process, from making an initial reform decision to detailed design and implementation. In addition, the authors address how these incentives can weaken, strengthen, or shift in response to changes in political and economic conditions that arise after reform begins. A general approach to conducting political economy of decentralization analysis is outlined, recognizing the need to tailor such analysis to the particular country context. This volume is based on literature reviews and knowledge derived from selected country experiences.
Author: Kent Eaton Publisher: ISBN: 9780821388419 Category : Central government Languages : en Pages : 92
Book Description
This volume presents a framework designed to help international development partners consider the relevance of political economy issues for their programmatic support to decentralization and local government reform. The intention is neither to advocate decentralization in general or in any particular form, nor to presume or privilege any particular decentralization objective. Instead, the purpose is to document the potential value of better understanding how (primarily national and intergovernmental) political and institutional dynamics do or could affect the scope for realizing decentralization reforms aligned with commonly advocated service delivery, governance, and poverty reduction goals. The underlying premise is that systematic analysis of these issues can productively complement the dominantly technical diagnostic work typically carried out by development partners. Specifically, development partners can benefit from better understanding the practical significance of motives that drive politicians and bureaucrats to support or oppose reform at various stages of the decentralization process, from making an initial reform decision to detailed design and implementation. In addition, the authors address how these incentives can weaken, strengthen, or shift in response to changes in political and economic conditions that arise after reform begins. A general approach to conducting political economy of decentralization analysis is outlined, recognizing the need to tailor such analysis to the particular country context. This volume is based on literature reviews and knowledge derived from selected country experiences.
Author: Bernard Dafflon Publisher: World Bank Publications ISBN: 0821396137 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 343
Book Description
For two decades now, experiences in decentralization and federalization have been in progress in many countries, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa. How can these processes be understood and improved? Focusing on four Sub-Saharan countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya and Senegal), this volume applies an original approach to address such questions. No attempt is made to transpose an ideal Western model - which does not exist. Here, decentralization is viewed as a sequential process, implying choices that are the sole responsibility of the country concerned. For each of the four countries, the authors provide a diagnosis of how decentralization is organized in practice and compare this with the institutional architecture adopted. This analysis of the gaps separating what is formally targeted and what has been achieved on the ground suggests possible directions for reform. A guide for analyzing decentralized policies is proposed, which is useful to help identify the issues at stake, point out stumbling blocks and ensure the coherence of decisions on decentralization.
Author: Maureen Mackintosh Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing ISBN: Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
Scholars of economics and business, most from Britain and especially the University of Manchester, consider the political economy of public management reform. They report research findings on privatization and decentralization in both industrialized and aid-dependent countries, concentrating on the meso-level of institutional response. Combining theory, case studies, and institutional analysis, they look at public/private partnerships, public finance, and aid allocation. Academics and researchers in development studies and economics, political economy, and international public management and policy makers may find this volume of interest.
Author: Resnick, Danielle Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst ISBN: Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 48
Book Description
Since the early 2000s, decentralization has been espoused as a major policy goal of successive Zambian governments. With the passing of the 2019 Local Government Act, a greater understanding is needed of how decentralization has progressed thus far in Zambia and how political economy dynamics have constrained the process. As such, a survey was conducted with 153 bureaucrats across 16 councils in four Zambian provinces, complemented by interviews with elected ward councilors. Three key findings emerge. First, the organizational setting in which councils operate undermines the continuity of service provision. In particular, transfers of staff by the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC), partially driven by the growth in the number of councils in recent years, increases pressure on the wage bill of local authorities, creates uncertainty for civil servants, and undermines institutional memory. Second, the unwillingness to cede genuine autonomy to local councils by the Ministry of Local Government (MLG) repeatedly emerged. A perception of low levels of consultation with council bureaucrats and elected councilors, especially when statutory instruments are issued, reinforce that accountability remains upwards to the MLG rather than downwards to citizens. Third, within the councils, there is a mismatch in incentives between the bureaucrats and politicians that can undermine policy implementation; while the former respect authority and attention to procedures, the latter are focused on constituents’ priorities and may bypass formal procedures to deliver to their voters. Based on interviews with market committees and solid waste companies, these dynamics have negative externalities on citizen perceptions and service provision in urban areas. As one of the few analyses conducted with local bureaucrats to assess their experiences with decentralization, the study aims to advance both policy and scholarship about the political economy dynamics surrounding efforts to strengthen subnational capabilities in developing countries.
Author: James Manor Publisher: World Bank Publications ISBN: Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 148
Book Description
Nearly all countries worldwide are now experimenting with decentralization. Their motivation are diverse. Many countries are decentralizing because they believe this can help stimulate economic growth or reduce rural poverty, goals central government interventions have failed to achieve. Some countries see it as a way to strengthen civil society and deepen democracy. Some perceive it as a way to off-load expensive responsibilities onto lower level governments. Thus, decentralization is seen as a solution to many different kinds of problems. This report examines the origins and implications decentralization from a political economy perspective, with a focus on its promise and limitations. It explores why countries have often chosen not to decentralize, even when evidence suggests that doing so would be in the interests of the government. It seeks to explain why since the early 1980s many countries have undertaken some form of decentralization. This report also evaluates the evidence to understand where decentralization has considerable promise and where it does not. It identifies conditions needed for decentralization to succeed. It identifies the ways in which decentralization can promote rural development. And it names the goals which decentralization will probably not help achieve.
Author: Jean-Jacques Dethier Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 9780792379096 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 484
Book Description
The papers in Governance, Decentralization and Reform in China, India and Russia, which were presented at a ZEF conference in May 1999, deal with three critical aspects of governance in China, India, and Russia: political reforms at the local level; fiscal reforms in intergovernmental relations; and legal reforms. The volume collects contributions from 24 outstanding economists, political scientists and legal specialists including Vito Tanzi, Daniel Treisman, Pranab Bardham, Jean Drèze, Katharina Pistor and Kathryn Hendley. Distorted economic and political incentive structures, capture of the state by powerful élites and inoperative legal systems are factors that have greatly complicated the political economy of reform in these three large countries with heterogeneous populations. Addressing these political and institutional issues is essential to designing good policies. One particular goal of this volume is to bring together new analytical insights and empirical evidence on governance, a new and growing field of research. The volume is divided into three parts: fiscal federalism; decentralization and provision of local public goods; and legal reforms. Part I discusses the role of incentives in fiscal federalism. The papers analyze the effects of different revenue-sharing mechanisms between different levels of government, in particular the effects on regional growth and inequality and the incentives that local politicians may have to provide public goods depending on fiscal arrangements with the central government. In adapting their governance structures, all three countries have been striving for increased decentralization. But the theoretical literature suggests that, in a decentralized setting, second-best solutions must prevail: it is not possible to ensure incentive compatibility simultaneously with optimal allocation of resources and a balanced budget in providing public goods. Part II discusses taxation and public expenditure management both as a political and as a budgetary process. Two questions which the papers address are: Does participation of stakeholders and accountability of public authorities improve economic and social outcomes? Does better governance in the provision of basic goods such as health care and education improve equity? While decentralization is often seen as a way to improve the quality of public services, rule-based governance is viewed as a safeguard against the arbitrariness of public officials and weaknesses in law enforcement. The five papers in Part III focus on the rule of law; the role of the judicial system in establishing a rule-based economy; and the effectiveness of legal institutions during the transition from socialism to a market economy. They present overviews of current legal reform issues in the three countries and discuss various conceptual approaches to addressing legal reform issues.
Author: Alan Angell Publisher: Queen Elizabeth House Developm ISBN: Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 264
Book Description
Decentralization has become a fashionable policy prescription among reformers in Latin America. But how does it work in practice? Are the claims that it promotes efficiency, participation, and fiscal responsibility justified? Does the process improve the delivery of social services at thelocal level and encourage the participation of local communities? What conditions allow a positive response to the challenges of decentralization?This book seeks to explore these questions by examining the experience of seven medium sized provincial towns in Colombia and Chile. The overall national context is analyzed and the differences between the two countries emphasized. Colombia embarked on a process of radical decentralization, largelybecause of perceived failures of the state at the central level, while in Chile the process of change was much more cautious, since a relatively efficient central state wished to maintain tight control over reform. The effect on the development and politics of the seven cities is also described, andthe reasons for the very different outcomes assessed. Particular attention is paid to the role of the mayor and the ability to construct a local coalition for reform. Three thematic chapters further explore the impact of decentralization on the local economy and the role of the private sector infostering development; the way in which educational reform has been advanced by local authority and community involvement; and the manner in which the new institutional structures affect the development of policies for local poverty alleviation.The authors draw on extensive fieldwork involving numerous interviews with actors at all levels and from all sectors. The result is a unique test, at the local level in Latin America, of the outcome of reforms to the institutional structure of government.
Author: Giorgio Brosio Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing ISBN: 1781006261 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 465
Book Description
ÔThis volume provides a splendid and wide-ranging collection of studies analyzing the political-economy of decentralization in Latin-America. ItÕs a fascinating story with numerous and profound insights into how fiscal decentralization actually works in the context of a variety of fiscal institutions and in a setting with a high degree of inequality in the distribution of income and territorial disparities.Õ Ð Wallace E. Oates, University of Maryland, US ÔThe volume on Decentralization and Reform in Latin America is an important addition to the growing literature on decentralization. Some of the issues in the implementation and effectiveness of decentralization are similar all over the world, but there are issues of particular salience to Latin America, a region where decentralization reforms have come sometimes in the wake of major political reforms. This volume pays special attention to the complexity of issues (both relating to equity and efficiency) arising in the context of vertical fiscal imbalance and inter-governmental transfers, in the delivery of social services or investment spending, in the sharing of rent from natural resources among social and regional groups and in macro-fiscal stabilization. I expect the volume to receive widespread attention.Õ Ð Pranab Bhardan, University of California, Berkeley, US ÔWhen it comes to fiscal decentralization in developing countries, Latin America has long led the way. In the two decades prior to the mid-1990s, some countries in the region extensively decentralized expenditures, especially social expenditures, and to a much lesser extent revenues to subnational governments. Some excesses and distortions resulted from these initial efforts and over the next decade major attempts were made to offset such problems, primarily by changing fiscal rules and transfer systems. The recent boom in natural resource revenues has again exacerbated pressure on the intergovernmental fiscal system in many countries, leading to further attempts to adjust the flow of finance between governments in order to maintain macroeconomic balance while achieving both more effective service delivery and greater social cohesion. This book, which provides both description and analysis of the rich Latin American experience, should be required reading not only for all those interested in the region but for scholars and policy-makers anywhere who are concerned with the complex and many-faceted issues associated with decentralization.Õ Ð Richard M. Bird, University of Toronto, Canada ÔGiorgio Brosio and Juan Pablo JimŽnez have made a remarkable job in preparing the best comprehensive treatment of comparative decentralization experiences in Latin America. The volume reviews all aspects of the decentralization process: its constitutional roots and its contribution to social cohesion; the provision of social services and infrastructure; taxation, sharing in natural resource revenues and the design of the intergovernmental transfers; and its macro-financial implications and associated fiscal rules. It will be essential reading for analysts of fiscal and local government issues in the region and a very useful tool for Latin Americanists in general.Õ Ð JosŽ Antonio Ocampo, Professor, Columbia University. Former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and Finance Minister of Colombia Decentralisation and Reform in Latin America analyses the process of intergovernmental reform in Latin America in the last two decades and presents a number of emerging issues. These include the impacts of decentralization and the response of countries in the region to challenge such as social cohesion, interregional and interpersonal disparities, the assignment of social and infrastructure expenditure, macrofinancial shocks, fiscal rules and the sharing of natural resources revenue. The main aim of the book is to assess the effective working of decentralized arrangements and institutions, with a view of suggesting corrections and reforms where the system is not working according to expectations. Policymakers, researchers and academics with an interest in subjects related to public policy, fiscal rules, intergovernmental relations, governance and decentralization will find this book invaluable.
Author: Pranab Bardhan Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262524546 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 375
Book Description
Over the past three decades the developing world has seen increasing devolution of political and economic power to local governments. Decentralization is considered an important element of participatory democracy and, along with privatization and deregulation, represents a substantial reduction in the authority of national governments over economic policy. The contributors to Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries examine this institutional transformation from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, offering detailed case studies of decentralization in eight countries: Bolivia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa, and Uganda. Some of these countries witnessed an unprecedented "big bang" shift toward comprehensive political and economic decentralization: Bolivia in 1995 and Indonesia after the fall of Suharto in 1998. Brazil and India decentralized in an uneven and more gradual manner. In some other countries (such as Pakistan), devolution represented an instrument for consolidation of power of a nondemocratic national government. In China, local governments were granted much economic but little political power. South Africa made the transition from the undemocratic decentralization of apartheid to decentralization under a democratic constitution. The studies provide a comparative perspective on the political and economic context within which decentralization took place, and how this shaped its design and possible impact. Contributors Omar Azfar, Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Pranab Bardhan, Shubham Chaudhuri, Ali Cheema, Jean-Paul Faguet, Bert Hofman, Kai Kaiser, Philip E. Keefer, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Justin Yifu Lin, Mingxing Liu, Jeffrey Livingston, Patrick Meagher, Dilip Mookherjee, Ambar Narayan, Adnan Qadir, Ran Tao, Tara Vishwanath, Martin Wittenberg
Author: Kent Eaton
Author: Kent Eaton![The political economy of decentralization reforms : [implications for aid effectiveness] PDF](https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/6oPboAEACAAJ?fife=w80-h100)
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