Though recent economic growth in India has increased productivity and living standards significantly, the need for more growth and more reform remains. Rapid growth of unskilled labor-intensive manufacturing combined with growth of productivity in agriculture is necessary to enable a more...

This paper provides a general overview of the allocation of revenues and expenditures across levels of governments in Canada and discusses how public services in specific areas are financed and delivered. In doing so, the paper draws attention to a number of important characteristics of the...

Japans mid-nineteenth century opening-up to Western influence, the so-called Meiji Restoration, drove political leaders to form a politically modern centralized country. Although Japan experienced a number of major decentralization processes under the post World War II Allied occupation, the...

This study explores the evolution of fiscal resource distribution in Pakistan. Pakistan is a federation comprising four provinces, federallyadministered areas, and the Islamabad Capital Territory. Being a central type of government, most of the revenues are collected by the centre and then...

The paper aims to assess the fiscal health of five urban agglomerations (UAs) in India viz. Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, and Pune. Our sample consists of five corporations and sixty three smaller Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) dispersed in thirteen districts of five major states. The main...

This paper argues that the incorporation of new references in the Thirteenth Finance Commission mandate relating to ecology, environment and climate change and quality of public expenditure pose new challenges. The challenges arise because the operationalization of these items require various...

With closer regional integration there is increasing interest within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and on the part of ASEAN’s dialogue partners in the potential gains of closer connections between Southeast Asia and South Asia. The strategic positions of India,...

With closer regional integration there is increasing interest within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and on the part of ASEAN’s dialogue partners in the potential gains of closer connections between Southeast Asia and South Asia. The strategic positions of India,...

Rapid population ageing and economic transformation in Asia raise the policy challenge of ensuring income security in old age. There is growing interest among policymakers in the potential role of noncontributory transfers as an instrument to address a variety of policy challenges, including old...

The aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007–2009 has called the export-led growth model of Asian economies into question. This paper describes the contribution that macroeconomic policy can make to promote a rebalancing of growth away from dependence on exports to...