The theoretical and policy literature on decentralization has long asserted since Oates (1972) that decentralized governance increases allocative efficiency in the public sector. But, despite the colossal growth in the literature on decentralization and fiscally decentralized systems in the real...

In this paper we take stock of what the current system of sub-national governments is like in Egypt and then build on this assessment to suggest the form of decentralization that may be both effective and politically feasible. Practically every aspect of intergovernmental relations in Egypt...

Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a small single-party State with an already long but erratic history of decentralization. Political drives towards decentralization and re-centralization have alternated for more than thirty years. Today, provincial governments enjoy a great deal of autonomy...

This paper reviews the current knowledge on an issue of increasing policy interest: what impact fiscal decentralization has on economic growth. Fiscal decentralization may indeed have a direct impact on economic growth but the theoretical underpinnings for this relationship remain largely...

In this report we highlight some of the progress that has been made in the reform of the system of intergovernmental fiscal relations in Macedonia, but we dedicate more space and attention to those areas of the system where challenges still remain. The report is structured along the main pillars...

Recent socio-spatial studies point out a number of ongoing trends in the “scale division of labor of the state,” including among others, “destatization,” "denationalization, and “internationalization.” We draw on the literature in public economics to review several approaches to...

The People’s Democratic Republic of Lao (Lao PDR), landlocked between Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, China, and Viet Nam in the core of Southeast Asia, accounts for a population of some 5.8 million over a total surface of 236,800 square kilometers. Latest estimates would place poverty rates at...

Although there are obvious differences in the political systems of China and India, there are surprising similarities in their respective approaches to decentralization. Both countries face similar design issues with their intergovernmental systems, such as the lack of clear expenditure...

Vietnam is a poor country with large and increasing needs in infrastructure, education, health, and other areas of the public sector. The current policy of the Government of Vietnam (GOV) is not to increase tax effort, but actually to reduce it. Recently, the GOV has cut the rates of several...

The goal of this paper is to review the state of our knowledge in the economics literature on the causal relationship between fiscal decentralization and economic growth and democratic governance, whether these relationships are uni-directional or bi-directional, and to what extent there appear...