Fiscal Decentralisation And Economic Development The Kerala Experience

Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Development: The Kerala Experience signifies a substantial contribution of the trends in the central government’s fiscal transfers and its impact on Kerala and all state finances between the fiscal years 1980–81 and 2012–13. Regional disparity in resource transfer and economic development are often sources of political tensions and dissatisfaction in a federal system. The fundamental economic argument advanced in favour of decentralised government activity has been that decentralisation is a means to enhance the efficiency of government activity, to increase social welfare and to promote economic development and growth. Despite constitutional recognition of the third tier in 1992, analysis of fiscal decentralisation incorporating the role and functions of the third tier in conjunction with the first two tiers does not exist. This study is an attempt to provide a more complete picture of the fiscal federalism in Kerala incorporating all the three tiers of government. Before the policymakers shift to some new theories on deciding the allocation of very valuable scarce national resources to states through the Finance Commission and Planning Commission and thereby providing strong incentives to influence the development strategy of states, it is pertinent that we consider some empirical relationships from the data on Indian states and this book hopes to provide some insight into this direction, which will be highly useful to policy makers, administrators and academics.

This book evaluates two decades of Kerala's experience on fiscal decentralization, finances and decentralized planning of rural and urban local governments and draws lessons for achieving sound fiscal decentralization in developing countries.

This entirely new edition of a successful textbook provides a detailed understanding of Kerala’s economic backwardness, the reforms required, and the performance of the economy during the post-liberalisation period. This collection of 17 original essays, focusing on current economic problems and development issues affecting Kerala, will serve as a basic textbook for graduate and post-graduate students of Kerala’s economy.

Contributed articles presented earlier at a national seminar on December 8-10, 2005.

Focusing on current economic problems, Kerala's Economic Development: Emerging Issues and Challenges provides an in-depth analysis of the major development issues and challenges faced by the state. Kerala’s development experience has attracted worldwide attention due to its paradoxical development: attaining higher quality of life of people on the one hand and continuation of the backward productive sectors on the other. The state’s economy remained backward in many respects and relied heavily on the remittance of Keralite emigrants. The implementation of liberalisation and globalisation policies since 1991 radically altered the growth process and Kerala achieved higher rates of investment and growth and greater technological change. These policies, however, have not only provided enormous opportunities, but also new challenges. This book examines the state’s economic growth as well as the issues that have accompanied the policy changes.

This entirely new edition of a successful textbook provides a detailed understanding of Kerala’s economic backwardness, the reforms required, and the performance of the economy during the post-liberalisation period. This collection of 17 original essays, focusing on current economic problems and development issues affecting Kerala, will serve as a basic textbook for graduate and post-graduate students of Kerala’s economy.

Contributed articles presented earlier in an international seminar held at New Delhi on New Delhi on October 7-9, 2005.

In the early 1990s, Kerala's growth rate was high due to the enhanced performance of the secondary and tertiary sectors. Unable to sustain this development, Kerala is now in severe recession. This book examines the region's economic problems.