As a result of worldwide decentralization, subnational debt is rising. Subnational debt crises in major developing countries in the 1990s have led to strengthened regulatory frameworks for subnational borrowing and insolvency. With the fragility of the global recovery and increasing public debt,...

Subnational insolvency is a reoccurring event in development, as demonstrated by historical and modern episodes of subnational defaults in both developed and developing countries. Insolvency procedures become more important as countries decentralize expenditure, taxation, and borrowing, and...

Does decentralization enhance service delivery and poverty reduction? Drawing on cutting edge research, expert contributors address this fundamental question facing policy-makers in developing as well as advanced countries. This timely book builds upon insights on the recent developments in the...

This paper surveys methodological issues in subnational credit ratings and highlights key challenges for developing countries. Subnational borrowing from capital markets has been on the rise owing to fiscal decentralization and demand for infrastructure investments. A prerequisite for accessing...

Fiscal responsibility laws are institutions with which multiple governments in the same economy-national and subnational-can commit to help avoid irresponsible fiscal behavior that could have short-term advantages to one of them but that would be collectively damaging. Coordination failures with...

This paper explores the building blocks of an institutional framework to govern borrowing by subnational entities to finance infrastructure investment. The framework should help in achieving sustainable financing of development needs and sound management of fiscal risks. Based on international...

Despite a world awash with liquidity, large infrastructure supply gaps exist across developing and emerging markets. Infrastructure has been largely decentralized to subnational governments in many countries, and many policymakers are keenly interested in developing subnational bond markets to...

Local government finance has taken on increasing importance in Turkey, with the evolving fiscal decentralization and the growing role of local administrations in public investment. The focus of this policy note is on sub-national borrowing as an essential component of the framework for...