Khemani, StutiAhmad, JunaidShah, ShekharDevarajan, Shantayanan2012-06-252012-06-252005-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8933Dissatisfied with centralized approaches to delivering local public services, a large number of countries are decentralizing responsibility for these services to lower-level, locally elected governments. The results have been mixed. The paper provides a framework for evaluating the benefits and costs, in terms of service delivery, of different approaches to decentralization, based on relationships of accountability between different actors in the delivery chain. Moving from a model of central provision to that of decentralization to local governments introduces a new relationship of accountability-between national and local policymakers-while altering existing relationships, such as that between citizens and elected politicians. Only by examining how these relationships change can we understand why decentralization can, and sometimes cannot, lead to better service delivery. In particular, the various instruments of decentralization-fiscal, administrative, regulatory, market, and financial-can affect the incentives facing service providers, even though they relate only to local policymakers. Likewise, and perhaps more significantly, the incentives facing local and national politicians can have a profound effect on the provision of local services. Finally, the process of implementing decentralization can be as important as the design of the system in influencing service delivery outcomes.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMSACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING PROCEDURESADMINISTRATIVE COSTSADMINISTRATIVE DECENTRALIZATIONADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIESALLOCATION OF RESOURCESANECDOTAL EVIDENCEASSETSASSIGNMENT OF TAXESAUTHORITYBALANCED BUDGET REQUIREMENTSBANKRUPTCYBANKSBORROWING COSTSBUDGET INFORMATIONBUDGET PRIORITIESBUDGETARY ALLOCATIONSBUREAUCRACYBUREAUCRATBUSINESS TAXESCAPITAL MARKETSCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCENTRAL GOVERNMENTSCENTRAL TRANSFERSCITIZENCITIZENSCIVIL SOCIETYCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITY LEADERSCONSENSUSCONSTITUENCIESCONSTITUTIONCORRUPTIONCOUNCILSCOURT SYSTEMCROWDING OUTDEBTDECENTRALIZATIONDECENTRALIZATION EFFORTSDECENTRALIZATION PROCESSDECENTRALIZATION REFORMSDECENTRALIZED SERVICE DELIVERYDECISION MAKERSDECISION MAKINGDECISION- MAKINGDECISION- MAKING AUTHORITYDECONCENTRATIONDEFICITSDEMOCRACYDEMOCRATIZATIONDEVOLUTIONDISCLOSUREDISCRIMINATIONDISTRICT GOVERNMENTSDISTRICTSEDUCATION OUTCOMESEDUCATION SERVICESELECTED REPRESENTATIVESELECTORAL COMPETITIONELECTORAL DEMOCRACYELECTORAL RULESELECTORAL SYSTEMEMERGING DEMOCRACIESETHNIC GROUPSEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURE RESPONSIBILITIESEXTERNALITIESFINANCIAL INFORMATIONFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL RESOURCESFISCALFISCAL DECENTRALIZATIONFORMAL INSTITUTIONSGOVERNMENT BORROWINGGOVERNMENT DECISIONGOVERNMENT SPENDINGHUMAN RESOURCESINEQUALITYINFANT MORTALITYINFORMATION ASYMMETRIESINFRASTRUCTURE SERVICESINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINSURANCEINTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL RELATIONSINTERGOVERNMENTAL SYSTEMINTERGOVERNMENTAL TRANSFERSINVESTMENT SPENDINGJURISDICTIONJURISDICTIONSLAWSLEGAL AUTHORITYLEGISLATIVE OFFICELEVELS OF GOVERNMENTLOCAL ACCOUNTABILITYLOCAL AUTONOMYLOCAL CAPACITYLOCAL DEMOCRACYLOCAL ELECTIONSLOCAL EXPENDITURESLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL LEVELSLOCAL POLICIESLOCAL POLITICIANSLOCAL TAXMANDATESMEDIAMEDICAL FACILITIESMORAL HAZARDMORTALITYMUNICIPALITIESNATIONAL ELECTIONSNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSNATIONAL INCOMENATIONAL LEVELNATIONAL SERVICENATIONAL TAX REFORMPARLIAMENTPOLICY RESEARCHPOLITICAL COMPETITIONPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL INFLUENCEPOLITICAL INSTITUTIONSPOLITICAL PARTICIPATIONPOLITICAL PARTIESPOLITICAL POWERPOLITICIANSPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIVATE SECTORPROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTSPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORMPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC FINANCESPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC POLICIESPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE PROVISIONPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC SPENDINGREGULATORY MECHANISMSREGULATORY POWERSREPRESENTATIVESRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESOURCE DISTRIBUTIONRESPONSIBLEREVENUE SHARINGSANITATIONSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSOCIAL HETEROGENEITYSOCIAL NETWORKSSOCIAL PROCESSESSOCIAL SERVICESSUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSSURCHARGESTAX ADMINISTRATIONTAX BASETAX RATESTAX REFORMVILLAGE GOVERNMENTSVOTINGWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-3603