Fiscal decentralization has been, and remains high on the policy agenda of many countries. It is mainly driven by political pressures, which tend to be especially evident in countries with multiple ethnicities, and/or wide regional disparities in incomes or resource endowments. More generally,...

Conventional wisdom postulates that there are benefits from decentralizing government finances but there is little empirical evidence about actual country practices. This paper presents data on fiscal decentralization for about 80 countries over a period of about 20 years (1990-2008) from the...

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...

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...

Austria’s federal system comprises the federal government and nine provinces (Länder). The federal system is rather centralized by international standards, with the federal government (including social security funds) accounting for about 70 percent of general government spending, the...

This report summarizes the findings of an evaluation of the technical assistance delivered by MFD to the CBBH. The assessment was conducted during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the period March 15-17, 2006. It covers the period 1997-2005, although MFD TA started earlier: two brief MFD...

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that inflation has stabilized at industrial country rates, anchored by the currency board. About half of activity is accounted for by the private sector and banks have been almost completely privatized to nonresidents. The fiscal...

Bosnia and Herzegovina has come a long way, but has to achieve more in terms of economic transition. The core and most urgent economic task is corporate restructuring. Labor market institutions need to be transformed alongside. The fiscal and structural reform agenda will require strengthened...

This paper assesses the extent to which data unreliability could alter the assessment of the macroeconomic challenges ahead. The contributions of the indirect tax authority (ITA) in remedying the flaws are highlighted, and the architectural agenda is discussed. Fiscal sustainability and the...