On the measurement and impact of fiscal decentralization

The typical post-Bretton Woods era development approach that emphasized central government-led development efforts has changed dramatically, and local governments have clearly emerged as players in development policy. The thinking about what is important to achieve in development objectives is changing as fiscal decentralization reforms are being pursued by many countries around the world. In this context, a number of studies have attempted to quantify the impact of decentralization by relating some measure of it to economic outcomes of fiscal stability, economic growth, and public sector size. But decentralization is surprisingly difficult to measure. Nearly all cases examining the relationship between decentralization and macroeconomic performance have relied on the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) of the International Monetary Fund. However, despite its merits, GFS falls short in providing a full picture of fiscal decentralization. For some countries, however, there is data that more accurately captures fiscal responsibilities among different types of governments.Decentralization,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Public&Municipal Finance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,National Governance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Urban Economics

Rural Roads: Multi-Tier Monitoring of Infrastructure: Top Down and Bottom Up

The focus of this paper is on the last set of these questions -- that of the capacity and the practice of decentralized infrastructure monitoring. The experience and practice of low, middle and high income countries alike is considered. The paper is organized as follows: the next section, Section 2, defines how infrastructure is defined for purposes here, and then proceeds to discuss where the monitoring of infrastructure fits into the broader activity of decentralized infrastructure management. Section 3 then lays out some of the “pre-conditions” for effective decentralized monitoring of infrastructure, leading to the conclusion that for many developing countries these pre-conditions are not satisfied and, thus, why in order to make useful statements about decentralized monitoring of infrastructure one turns to specific case studies for lessons learned from current practice. Accordingly, Section 4 focuses on a mix of illustrative country practices on governmental monitoring of infrastructure that serve to reinforce the conventional view that though there are core lessons common to all intergovernmental societies, there is no single “best” approach since each country faces different starting and end points to which they aspire. Section 5 reviews selected non-governmental and civil society role in what the paper labels as decentralized “bottom up” monitoring. Concluding comments are provided in Section 6

Genetic Stasis of Dominant West Nile Virus Genotype, Houston, Texas

The accumulation and fixation of mutations in West Nile virus (WNV) led to the emergence of a dominant genotype throughout North America. Subsequent analysis of 44 isolates, including 19 new sequences, from Houston, Texas, suggests that WNV has reached relative genetic stasis at the local level in recent years

Antibody Prevalence of West Nile Virus in Birds, Illinois, 2002

Antibodies to West Nile virus were detected in 94 of 1,784 Illinois birds during 2002. Captive and urban birds had higher seropositivity than did birds from natural areas, and northern and central Illinois birds’ seropositivity was greater than that from birds from the southern sites. Adult and hatch-year exposure rates did not differ significantly

Molecular Epidemiology of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus, New York

Southern strains are undergoing amplification, perpetuation, and overwintering in New York

The Two-Component Sensor Kinase TcsC and Its Role in Stress Resistance of the Human-Pathogenic Mold Aspergillus fumigatus

Two-component signaling systems are widespread in bacteria, but also found in fungi. In this study, we have characterized TcsC, the only Group III two-component sensor kinase of Aspergillus fumigatus. TcsC is required for growth under hyperosmotic stress, but dispensable for normal growth, sporulation and conidial viability. A characteristic feature of the ΔtcsC mutant is its resistance to certain fungicides, like fludioxonil. Both hyperosmotic stress and treatment with fludioxonil result in a TcsC-dependent phosphorylation of SakA, the final MAP kinase in the high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) pathway, confirming a role for TcsC in this signaling pathway. In wild type cells fludioxonil induces a TcsC-dependent swelling and a complete, but reversible block of growth and cytokinesis. Several types of stress, such as hypoxia, exposure to farnesol or elevated concentrations of certain divalent cations, trigger a differentiation in A. fumigatus toward a “fluffy” growth phenotype resulting in white, dome-shaped colonies. The ΔtcsC mutant is clearly more susceptible to these morphogenetic changes suggesting that TcsC normally antagonizes this process. Although TcsC plays a role in the adaptation of A. fumigatus to hypoxia, it seems to be dispensable for virulence