World Bank2013-02-262013-02-262012-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12511This report discusses the contours of a possible strategic direction, the necessary basic institutional set up for implementation, and key reform policy options to be tackled in order to complete the foundations of the decentralization reform initiated in 2001. Croatia is still a highly centralized country in terms of decision making on public service financing and delivery, as compared to most of the new European Union members. One indicator is that the sub-national Government's budget still corresponds to five percent of GDP, while in the newly accessed countries it was about eight percent on average in their immediate pre-accession phase. The Government of Croatia is conscious about the critical importance of improving citizens' voice, transparency and accountability on public affairs, especially on matters of local interest, in order to increase efficiency on public service delivery and rapidly converge to European Union standards on a sustainable basis. The Government started its decentralization reforms in July 2001, although they have not yet adequately implemented them to make the reform process sustainable.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CAPITALACCOUNTABILITYADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTSADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURESARREARSASSETSAUTHORITYBANKSBLOCK GRANTSBONDSBUDGET REVENUESBUDGET SYSTEMBUDGETARY AUTONOMYBUDGETINGBUREAUCRACYBUREAUCRATIC INTERFERENCECAPACITY BUILDINGCAPITAL EXPENDITURECAPITAL EXPENDITURE RESPONSIBILITIESCAPITAL EXPENDITURESCAPITAL GRANTSCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL MARKETCAPITAL MARKETSCENTRAL AUTHORITIESCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCENTRAL INSTITUTIONSCENTRALIZATIONCITIZENSCIVIL SERVICECONFLICT OF INTERESTCONSTITUTIONCOUNCILSCOURT SYSTEMCREDIBILITYCREDITWORTHINESSDEBT MANAGEMENTDEBT SERVICEDECENTRALIZATIONDECENTRALIZATION OBJECTIVESDECENTRALIZATION PROCESSDECENTRALIZATION REFORMDECENTRALIZATION REFORMSDECISION MAKINGDECISION-MAKINGDECREESDEMOCRACYDEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCEDEVOLUTIONEFFICIENCY OF SERVICE DELIVERYEFFICIENT RESOURCE ALLOCATIONEMPLOYMENTEQUALIZATIONEXCESSIVE DEFICITSEXECUTIVE BODIESEXECUTIVE POWEREXPENDITUREEXPENDITURE ALLOCATIONEXPENDITURE PRIORITIESFINANCIAL CAPACITIESFINANCIAL CRISESFINANCIAL DIFFICULTIESFINANCIAL INCENTIVESFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFISCAL AUTONOMYFISCAL DECENTRALIZATIONFISCAL INCENTIVESFISCAL MANAGEMENTFISCAL REPORTING SYSTEMSFISCAL RESPONSIBILITYFISCAL TRANSFERFISCAL TRANSFERSFISCAL TRANSPARENCYGARBAGE COLLECTIONGOVERNMENT AUTHORITIESGOVERNMENT AUTHORITYGOVERNMENT FINANCEGOVERNMENT LEVELGOVERNMENT LEVELSGOVERNMENT POLICYGOVERNMENT PROGRAMSGOVERNMENT STRATEGYGOVERNMENT'S BUDGETHARD BUDGET CONSTRAINTSHOUSINGHUMAN RESOURCESINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTSINSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKINSTITUTIONAL REFORMINSTITUTIONAL REFORMSINTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL RELATIONSINTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL SYSTEMINTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONSINVESTMENT GRANTSJUDICIAL SYSTEMJUDICIARYLAWSLEGAL FRAMEWORKLEGALITYLEGISLATIONLEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORKLEVEL OF GOVERNMENTLEVELS OF GOVERNMENTLEVIESLOCAL ADMINISTRATIONLOCAL AUTHORITIESLOCAL AUTONOMYLOCAL BUSINESSESLOCAL EXPENDITURESLOCAL FEESLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCELOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL PUBLIC SERVICELOCAL REVENUELOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENTLOCAL TAXLOCAL TAXESMACROECONOMIC POLICYMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMARKET ECONOMYMARKET VALUEMAYORSMINISTERSMINISTRY OF FINANCEMORAL HAZARDSMUNICIPALMUNICIPAL DEBTMUNICIPALITIESNATIONAL CIVIL SERVICENATIONAL GOVERNMENTSNATIONAL SERVICENATIONAL TAXESPOLICY FORMULATIONPOLICY IMPLEMENTATIONPOLICY INSTRUMENTPOLICY OBJECTIVESPOLICY OUTCOMESPOLICY REFORMPOLICY RESULTSPRIVATE SECTORPROPERTY RIGHTSPROVISIONSPUBLICPUBLIC AFFAIRSPUBLIC COMPANIESPUBLIC DEBTPUBLIC ENTITIESPUBLIC ENTITYPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC PROPERTYPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SECTOR REFORMPUBLIC SERVANTSPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYPUBLIC SERVICESRATIONALIZATIONREFERENDUMREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESOURCE ALLOCATIONSREVENUE ASSIGNMENTREVENUE ASSIGNMENT SYSTEMREVENUE AUTONOMYREVENUE CAPACITYREVENUE MOBILIZATIONREVENUE RATIOREVENUE SOURCEREVENUE STRUCTUREROADSSAVINGSSOCIAL ASSISTANCESOCIAL COSTSOFT BUDGET CONSTRAINTSSTATE ADMINISTRATIONSTATE AUTHORITIESSTATE BUDGETSTATE INSTITUTIONSSUB-NATIONALSUB-NATIONAL AUTHORITIESSUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENTSUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENTSSUBNATIONALSUBNATIONAL AUTHORITIESSUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSSUBSIDIARITY PRINCIPLESUPERVISORY AUTHORITYSUPERVISORY POWERSTAX BASETAX BURDENTAX EFFORTTAX EFFORTSTAX EXEMPTIONSTAX LAWTAX LIABILITYTAX PAYERSTAX REVENUETAX SHARINGTAXATIONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOWNTOWNSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTUNFUNDED MANDATESVERTICAL BALANCEWATER SUPPLYWorld Bank10.1596/12511