Roy Bahl - Böcker

Responding to a deepening economic crisis, serious structural problems with the tax system, a long and deep-seated opposition to even modest tax increases, and a weak tax administration, the Guatemalan government introduced a comprehensive tax reform program in 1992. In this concise volume, Roy Bahl, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, and Sally Wallace review

This book describes the analysis that led to the reform of the Guatemalan tax system in 1992. It also describes the tax policy aspects to improve tax administration, budgeting and fiscal planning, and a training program in customs and tax administration.

As experience with decentralization has accumulated, perceptions of both the problems that often accompany decentralization and the best ways to deal with them have evolved. This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed, and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. There is no simple or single way to get decentralization right. To be successful, scholars of fiscal decentralization must pay close attention to the unique political, economic, and institutional context and objectives in each country. The authors focus on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money.Bahl and Bird have created a valuable resource for scholars, students, and practitioners from economics, public administration and management, planning, policy analysis, and political science.

Examining cutting-edge issues of international relevance in the ongoing redesign of the South African local government fiscal system, the contributors to this volume analyze the major changes that have taken place since the demise of apartheid. The 1996 Constitution and subsequent legislation dramatically redefined the public sector, mandating the development of democratic local governments empowered to provide a wide variety of key public services. However, the definition and implementation of new local functions and the supporting democratic decision-making and managerial capabilities are emerging more slowly than expected. Some difficult choices and challenges commonly faced by developing countries must be dealt with before the system can evolve to more effectively meet the substantial role envisioned for local governments. The contributors outline these choices and challenges, consider options for meeting them, and review the implications of different decisions. Their analyses also highlight the interrelationships among the elements of the local fiscal structure, and emphasize the often-ignored challenge of how to define an appropriate fiscal decentralization implementation strategy in an environment where local governments are extremely diverse in terms of needs, resources and capacities. Though the research, much of it based on newly collected data, is specific to South Africa, the approach provides a model for other countries facing similar fiscal decentralization policy challenges.Applied public finance and policy academics, policymakers in developing countries, researchers and program managers in international development organizations, and students interested in local government finance in developing countries will find this timely and comprehensive volume a valuable addition to their libraries.