Civil service has been at the top of the reform agenda for many years, surprisingly with very little progress. In the past, as well as recently, some actions have been taken which can be passed off as civil service reform. But the expected performance of the civil service, most appropriately...

This paper builds on the existing literature to better explain the tax assignment choices made by countries in different economic circumstances. In particular, we explain why the degree of tax autonomy given to subnational governments is significantly greater in industrial than in developing...

This insightful study examines the decentralization experiences from 15 countries in different regions of the world. All of these countries have actively attempted to decentralize, or continue to do so, and have faced obstacles serious enough to either derail or significantly delay their...