Fiscal Decentralization In Developing And Transition Economies

Shah discusses the revolution in public sector thinking that is transforming the public sectors of developing and transition countries. Countries are reconsidering their fiscal systems and searching for the right balance between central government control and decentralized governance. Political decentralization has advanced in most countries. Subnational expenditures in developing countries as a percentage of total public expenditures have also increased over the past two decades. However, the process is far from complete. In many countries, the central government is still involved in the delivery of local services, local governments have few sources of own-revenues, local governments have limited access to borrowing for capital projects, and the design of intergovernmental transfers does neither address regional fiscal equity nor convey appropriate incentives for fiscal discipline, improved service delivery performance, and accountability to citizens.Decentralized public governance can help realign public sector incentives through greater accountability to citizens, and attenuate the quot;democracy deficitquot; caused by globalization and the role of supranational institutions and regimes. However, this requires careful examination of the entire fiscal system. Elements of a comprehensive package of fiscal system reforms would include:- Clarifying roles of various levels of government in public service delivery.- Reassigning taxing responsibilities to ensure local revenue autonomy, accountability, and efficiency without endangering an internal common market.- Designing fiscal transfers to ensure regional fiscal equity and to create an enabling environment for innovative and competitive service delivery.- Facilitating responsible credit market access to subnational governments.- Designing institutional arrangements for intergovernmental fiscal relations to better coordinate policies.- Aligning operational capacity with the authorizing environment through the quot;accountability for resultsquot; framework of public management.This paper - a product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Division, World Bank Institute - is part of a larger effort in the institute to disseminate ideas in strengthening responsive, responsible, and accountable public governance.

Designing a well-functioning intergovernmenal fiscal system is essential to the success of all the transitional economies' major reform goals: privatization, macroeconomic stability, more efficient performance and economic growth, and an adequate social safety net.

World Bank Discussion Paper No. 271. This study incorporates data from comparable surveys across five African countries--Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Senegal, and Tanzania--to analyze how small and micro enterprises have been positively and negatively affected by policy liberalization schemes. Some grow rapidly by adapting their products, while others stagnate because of import competition and increased self- employment. Comparisons were made between small firms, with 6 to 49 workers, and microenterprises, with fewer than 6. The study suggests a two-pronged strategy: (1) to facilitate widespread participation in microenterprises, broad measures are needed to lower the costs of entry, generate demand for their goods and services, raise the educational level and incomes of the poor, and encourage informal financial institutions; (2) to stimulate growth of potentially dynamic enterprises, well-targeted measures may be appropriate to lower the costs of entry, increase access to credit, and provide demand-driven business services. Also available in French (ISBN 0-8213-3907-0) Stock No. 13907.

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.

Its highly fragmented structure of local governments and serious horizontal fiscal imbalances make Switzerland a surprisingly powerful model for Eastern European countries that are currently facing the challenge of fiscal decentralization. In spite of the substantial differences in the tradition and current practice of intergovernmental fiscal relations, transition economies may learn valuable lessons from the Swiss case in the fields of direct democracy, horizontal cooperation, expenditure and revenue assignment, and fiscal discipline. Among other conclusions, the authors suggest that subnational authorities can effectively fend off recentralization attempts of the central government if they engage in spontaneous cooperation to enhance the efficiency of public service provision. Together with an adequate fiscal equalization scheme, interjurisdictional cooperation also permits the reconciliation of the objective of an increasing devolution of powers with the existing regional disparities. The authors also show that the principle of subsidiarity can best be safeguarded by anchoring the expenditure and revenue powers of subnational governments in the constitution or in a similarly strong law. With regard to fiscal discipline, the combination of a "golden rule" with direct democratic instruments of budget control is proven to be successful in enhancing the accountability of local politicians toward their constituencies.

World Bank Discussion Paper No. 286. This report was commissioned as part of a project on the effectiveness of credit policies in East Asian countries. In the Republic of Korea, the government has played a pervasive role in promoting industrialization and economic development. The report documents the use of directed credit programs and highlights what made government intervention effective: its close consultation with industry, the existence of a competitive business environment, and a strong monitoring and evaluation system. The report notes the risk-sharing arrangements developed by Korean policymakers and the flexible adaptation of directed credit programs to the changing needs of the Korean economy. The authors also emphasize the long-term costs of reliance on directed credit programs and the measures taken in recent years to redirect the programs' objectives and redress the imbalances that have arisen along Korea's path to economic development.

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.