East Asia Decentralizes : Making Local Government Work
The past two decades have witnessed a fundamental transformation in the structure of government across East Asia. Prior to 1990 most East Asian countries were highly centralized; today, decentralization is ubiquitous throughout the region. From Chi...
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/05/6431825/east-asia-decentralizes-making-local-government-work http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7492 |
| Summary: | The past two decades have witnessed a
fundamental transformation in the structure of government
across East Asia. Prior to 1990 most East Asian countries
were highly centralized; today, decentralization is
ubiquitous throughout the region. From China to Thailand,
sub-national governments are now responsible for the
delivery of critical services and account for a significant
proportion of total public expenditure. In just two decades,
local and regional authorities have emerged as the
organizational fulcrum on which much of the weight of
development now falls. This report is the first attempt to
look systematically at this phenomenon throughout East Asia.
It is broken into four main sections. Chapters 1 and 2
provide an overview of the intergovernmental structures and
frameworks that have emerged thus far, assess the status of
the decentralization process, and identify key reform
challenges for the future. Chapters 3-7 examine various
dimensions of local and intergovernmental finance:
sub-national borrowing; local revenues; public expenditure
management; and the impact of the process on inter-regional
equity and poverty reduction. The management of human
resources is also covered here. Chapters 8-10 focus on the
impact of decentralization on investment and
service-delivery in three key sectors: health, education,
and basic infrastructure. The final two chapters (11-12)
look at issues connected with local accountability and
community driven development. |
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