Anwar Shah - Böcker

This book provides a comprehensive account of the principles and practices of fiscal federalism based on the currently accepted theoretical framework and best practices. The traditional topics of assignment of responsibilities, intergovernmental fiscal arrangements, fiscal competition, and grants are covered in a unified framework with reference to actual practices followed in federations around the world. Special issues such as local government and the implications of natural resource issues are considered along with emerging issues such as governance, corruption, and the effect of globalization and the information revolution on the nation state. The treatment is non-technical and suitable for a wide variety of audiences, including scholars, instructors, students, policy advisors, and practitioners.

This book provides a comprehensive account of the principles and practices of fiscal federalism based on the currently accepted theoretical framework and best practices. The traditional topics of assignment of responsibilities, intergovernmental fiscal arrangements, fiscal competition, and grants are covered in a unified framework with reference to actual practices followed in federations around the world. Special issues such as local government and the implications of natural resource issues are considered along with emerging issues such as governance, corruption, and the effect of globalization and the information revolution on the nation state. The treatment is non-technical and suitable for a wide variety of audiences, including scholars, instructors, students, policy advisors, and practitioners.

The globalization of information?satellite TV, internet, phone and fax?serve to enhance citizens? awareness of their rights, obligations, options and alternatives and strengthens demands for greater accountability from the public sector. However, the power of accountability is significantly reduced if citizens are unable to measure their government?s performance in a meaningful way, which is precisely the topic of this timely book. The abstract concept of ?government performance? can only be an effective tool in public debate when there are concrete statistics measuring performance and benchmarks against which current indicators can be compared. Public Services Delivery offers a comprehensive view of government performance measurement. The first part examines systems or frameworks for measuring the performance of government at the national level and at local levels of government. The second part of the book focuses on particular sectors that form the core of essential government services: health, education, welfare, waste disposal, and infrastructure.This book provides powerful tools to: a) development practitioners to evaluate projects, b) to policymakers to reform their government?s policies, and c) to public interest groups that wish to pressure their government for improvements in government services.

Accountability of government to citizens?the idea that the public sector must answer to the people for its performance?is the foundation for good governance. Under good governance, public expenditures are allocated to maximize welfare, revenues are collected efficiently, and the public at large has access to a number of public services including water and sanitation, infrastructure, education and health. Unfortunately in many developing countries, the people suffer the results of dysfunctional governance systems that fail to provide even minimal levels of vital public services. This happens because of an acute deficiency in government accountability, such that public servants lack the incentives to show results or manage government resources more efficiently. The key message of the New Institutional Economics is that incentives matter. In the public sphere, incentives for public servants and policymakers are derived from the countries? accountability frameworks?the rewards, sanctions, and measurement of performance?that shape public sector performance.Fiscal Management and Accountable Public Governance applies this fundamental insight to fiscal/budgetary analysis and public service delivery, giving the reader tools and real world examples from around the globe of institutional arrangements to help citizens hold government accountable for their performance.

For various reasons-whether philosophical, political, humanitarian, or by institutional mandate-people are concerned for the well being of the most vulnerable groups in society: women, the poor, and the elderly. Some would even measure the value of a political system by how well it cares for the least of its members. Related to this is the orientation of government toward the public more generally and the extent that it listens and responds to its citizens. More specifically, it is the rules and norms-the institutional framework-of government through which it takes into account the preferences of people on a day-to-day basis, not just at the ballot box. ""Public Expenditure Analysis for Citizen-Centered Governance ""explores two themes: the orientation of government towards its more vulnerable groups and the extent to which government is responsive to its citizens. The first part of the book provides tools, methodologies, and examples of how to examine the impact of government expenditures, taxes, pension systems and other policies on women, the poor, and the elderly. The second part looks at the different ways that the government listens to citizens' voices and proposes a new institutional framework for governments that wish to implement reforms that increase responsiveness: citizen-centered government and citizen - centered budgeting.

This book provides a new institutional economics perspective on alternative models of local governance, offering a comprehensive view of local government organization and finance in the developing world. The experiences of ten developing/transition economies are reviewed to draw lessons of general interest in strengthening responsive, responsible, and accountable local governance. The book is written in simple user friendly language to facilitate a wider readership by policy makers and practitioners in addition to students and scholars of public finance, economics and politics.

This book presents an authoritative guide to the principles and practice of participatory budgeting, providing a careful analysis of the potentials of participatory budgeting in strengthening inclusive and accountable governance as well as risks associated with interest group capture of participatory processes. For interested policy makers and practitioners, the book presents the ""nuts and bolts"" of participatory budgeting. It provides a regional survey of such practices worldwide and draws lessons from seven individual country case studies.

Transparent and prudent local financial management has come to be recognized as critical to the integrity of local public sector and to gaining and retaining trust of local residents. Such integrity and trust is sometimes lacking in some local governments in developing countries, especially in the Africa region. This volume attempts to provide practical guidance to local governments interested in establishing sound financial management systems. Leading international experts have contributed to all relevant aspects of local public financial management - cash management, internal controls, accounts, audits, and debt management.

Budgeting and budgetary institutions play a critical role in resource allocation, government accountability, and improved fiscal and social outcomes. This volume distills lessons from practices in designing better fiscal institutions, citizen friendly budgets, and open and transparent processes of budget preparation and execution. It also highlights newer concepts of performance budgeting, accrual accounting, activity based costing, and the use of information and communication technology in budgeting. These tools of analysis are supplemented by a review of budgeting in post-conflict countries and two country case studies on the reform of budgeting systems.

This volume provides an analytical framework and operational approaches needed for the implementation of results-based accountability. The volume makes a major contribution to the literature on public management and evaluation. Major subject areas covered in this book include: performance based accountability, e-government, legal and institutional framework to hold government to account; fighting corruption; external accountability and the role of supreme audit institutions on detecting fraud and corruption.

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of local budgeting needed to develop sound fiscal administration such as setting priorities, planning, financial control over inputs, management of operations and accountability to citizens. Topics covered include fiscal administration, forecasting, fiscal discipline, fiscal transparency, integrity of revenue administration, budget formats, and processes including performance budgeting, and capital budgeting.

Globalization and the information revolution have highlighted the catalytic role of local governments for improving economic and social outcomes at the local level as well as growing the national economy by enhancing international competitiveness.

Globalization and the information revolution have highlighted the catalytic role of local governments for improving economic and social outcomes at the local level as well as growing the national economy by enhancing international competitiveness.

Newer topics covered include political economy of local government, fiscal rules for local fiscal discipline, local government integrity and performance accountability, and municipal mergers and inter-municipal cooperation based upon relative importance and political, fiscal and administrative autonomy of local governments.

Newer topics covered include political economy of local government, fiscal rules for local fiscal discipline, local government integrity and performance accountability, and municipal mergers and inter-municipal cooperation based upon relative importance and political, fiscal and administrative autonomy of local governments.

Most evaluation books are focused on traditional tools of analysis such as cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis to the neglect of modern tools such as multi-criteria evaluation, social marginal cost of funds analysis, data envelopment analysis, results-oriented management and evaluation and theory based evaluations.

Most evaluation books are focused on traditional tools of analysis such as cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis to the neglect of modern tools such as multi-criteria evaluation, social marginal cost of funds analysis, data envelopment analysis, results-oriented management and evaluation and theory based evaluations.

This book reviews taxing choices to protect the local and global environment and preserve and sustain natural resources.