In preparing for the discussions of the Iraqi Constituent Assembly, IMF and World Bank staff and consultant experts presented to senior officials from the central and local governments in Iraq, including from Kurdistan, key options that might be relevant for the discussions. This paper reflects...

Based on cross-country data for up to 78 countries, this paper shows that fiscal decentralization-the assignment of expenditure and revenue mobilization functions to subnational levels of government-is associated with various indicators of governance, such as corruption, rule of law, and...

Empirical studies of the effects of intergovernmental grants to localities do not support standard microeconomic predictions. Block grants have surprisingly large positive effects on public expenditures. Researchers have attributed this “flypaper effect” to imperfect information (fiscal...

The paper argues that international differences in fiscal conditions influence the relative attractiveness of locating production facilities in different countries and could prove to be a troublesome source of instability for the European economies. Even though physical capital movements tend to...

Full implementation of an intergovernmental transfer system based on revenue capacities and expenditure needs could significantly improve both redistribution and equity objectives of the Chinese authorities. This was envisaged in the 1994 fiscal reforms, but the authorities were unable to...

This assessment of the implementation of the BCP in India has been completed as part of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), which has been undertaken by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in 2017, at the request of the Indian authorities. The scope of the...

This Technical Note examines India's securities market and the regulatory system overseeing the securities market and market participants. It is based upon a mission to Mumbai, India from March 14 - 31, 2017, conducted as one component of a joint IMF-World Bank Financial Sector Assessment...