Though decentralization for past one and half decade or so has become the most favoured policy priority among the policy makers yet the countries around the world differ dramatically in the degree of decentralization that is accommodated. While diversity in degree of decentralization across the...

Over the last few years, many attempts have been made to implement VAT in India. Initially, all states were to move to VAT system by 2000, but administrative problems and concern over the revenue implications of the change delayed the scheduled implementation. It has been postponed for five...

What is outsourcing and why India is being considered as BPO destination of the world? Why jobs are coming to India and why there is a downturn in the US economy and loss of jobs in that country. Even though these are two different things that happened simultaneously, they sadly managed to be...

The most desirable system of allocations should avoid effi ciency losses, resulting from either fi nancial dependency, or subnational fi scal operations by striking a balance between fi scal autonomy and reliance on federal transfers of SNGs.

This article hypothesizes that economic reforms become sustainable when the discursive conditions prevailing in society tip against the existing paradigm under exceptional circumstances. Thus, unless the pro-liberalization constituencies dominate the development discourse, economic reforms,...

How do we know whether a country suffers from vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI)? What should be done about it? Academic appreciation of these issues in general, and the nature of political behaviour in particular, both have major implications for the way federations are fiscally structured. While...

This paper presents an integrated analytical framework for the study of participatory local democracy weaved around the concepts of Governance, Governability and Governmentality. Drawing lessons from international experience, It focuses on the key determinants of the success of the local...

This article restores the concept of vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) to its original meaning. The literature shows that there is neither a universally accepted definition of VFI nor a commonly accepted approach to measuring it. Estimates of VFI are derived, much like accounting or deficit...

Decentralization since early 1990s has become one of the buzzwords of the development paradigms. Among all ingredients of decentralization, the fiscal component of it has a special significance. Not surprisingly the literature unanimously recognizes that it is the regulation of intergovernmental...

Chanchal Kumar Sharma,in his paper demonstrates that in order for fiscal decentralisation to be effective, it must be approached federally. A federal approach is not a decentralised approach but a dynamically balanced approach; one that constantly keeps on adjusting the contrasting forces of...