The aim of this book is to present a much-needed conceptualization of 'the learning region'. The editors scrutinize key concepts and issues surrounding this phenomenon, which are then discussed in the context of recent literature. This unique conceptualization of the learning region presents a...

Indonesia is currently facing some severe challenges, both in political affairs and in economic management. One of these challenges is the recently enacted decentralization program, now well underway, which promises to have some wide-ranging consequences. This edited volume presents original...

Most countries, developed and developing, are fiscally decentralized with regional and local governments of varying importance. In many of these countries, some of these sub-national governments differ substantially from others in terms of wealth, ethnic, religious, or linguistic composition....

This major Handbook addresses fiscal relations between different levels of government under the general rubric of "fiscal federalism", providing a review of the latest literature as well as an invaluable guide for practitioners and policy makers seeking informed policy options. The contributors...

Wallace Oates is one of the most important scholars in both environmental economics and public finance and this new volume of his essays brings together his recent research in both these areas, covering theory, research and policy. The first half of the book includes papers on the political...

This book explores the system of financing local governments in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Using evidence from the last two decades, the authors, experts on their particular countries, describe the development of the current local government finance system in each nation,...

Struggles over what a region receives, or should receive, from the budget of the central government are common to many countries. Discussions often focus on the measures of 'net fiscal flows' or 'fiscal balances' provided by the government or other actors. This unique book shows just how these...

This book analyzes political decentralization and fiscal federalism in Canada and Germany, both traditional federal countries, and in Spain, a unitarian country engaged in the last two decades in a process of decentralization. Three key issues required for a well designed financing system are...

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...