The past two decades have witnessed a fundamental transformation in the structure of government across East Asia. Prior to 1990 most East Asian countries were highly centralized; today, decentralization is ubiquitous throughout the region. From China to Thailand, sub-national governments are now...

This paper takes stock of Madagascar's first 10 years of decentralization. As it happened in many other developing countries, particularly in Africa, Madagascar's decentralization process has seen reversals, uncertainties and lack of clarity all along. This explains why Madagascar, despite the...

This study is highly selective and organized into four thematic chapters. Specifically, chapter 1 provides a snapshot of Burundi’s political and macroeconomic context, and reviews the evolution of the decentralization process to better understand how institutional, political, and bureaucratic...

This report is intended to support the analysis and implementation of reforms aimed at a strengthening of the intergovernmental system in Colombia. In mid-2007 congress approved a legislative act as constitutional amendment that increases the level of the main transfer to sub-national...

This report is intended to support the analysis and implementation of reforms aimed at a strengthening of the intergovernmental system in Colombia. In mid-2007 congress approved a legislative act as constitutional amendment that increases the level of the main transfer to sub-national...

Serbia's ability to achieve macroeconomic stabilization and restructure its public finances has been, and will continue to be, impacted by the policy actions of its sub-national governments. For the purposes of this paper, these include the province of Vojvodina and municipal governments. In...

The purpose of this report is to present reform options for the implementation of the new code that would strengthen accountability in service delivery. The report is structured as follows: chapter one discusses how decentralization can be an effective tool for improving service delivery and...

This study addresses the roles of different levels of government and the institutional arrangements involved in the provision of key services. The focus throughout is on disadvantaged rural areas. The study demonstrates the approach for a small number of sectors that have been "devolved" to...

This study addresses the roles of different levels of government and the institutional arrangements involved in the provision of key services. The focus throughout is on disadvantaged rural areas. The study demonstrates the approach for a small number of sectors that have been "devolved" to...