How Migration Restrictions Limit Agglomeration and Productivity in China

China strongly restricts rural-rural, urban-urban, and rural-urban migration. The result which this paper documents is a surplus of labor in agriculture. However, the paper argues that these restrictions also lead to insufficient agglomeration of economic activity within both rural industrial and urban areas, with resulting first order losses in GDP. For urban areas the paper estimates a city productivity relationship, based on city GDP numbers for 1990-97. The effects of access, educational attainment, FDI, and public infrastructure on productivity are estimated. Worker productivity is shown to be an inverted U-shape function of city employment level, with the peak point shifting out as industrial composition moves from manufacturing to services. As far as we know this is the first paper to actually estimate the relationship between output per worker and city scale, as it varies with industrial composition. The majority of Chinese cities are shown to be potentially undersized - below the lower bound on the 95% confidence interval about the size where their output per worker peaks. The paper calculates the large gains from increased agglomeration in both the rural industrial and urban sectors. It also examines the effect of capital reallocations, where the rural sector is grossly undercapitalized.

Reformasi Administrasi Pemerintahan Lokal dalam Pelayanan Publik di Indonesia

New Public Service (NPS) is a set of idea about the role of public administration in the local government and governance system where place of public service, democratic governance, and civic engagement at the center. On this perspective, citizens have important position, not only as client or customer but also owner of governance. Public interest is not only self interest problem but also values, belief and pay attention to other person

Pillars of Fiscal Decentralization

Fiscal decentralization can de be defined as the process of transferring budgetary authority from central government to elected subnational governments in order to grant them power to make decisions regarding taxes and expenses. This paper discusses, theoretically and empirically, what some consider the three pillars of fiscal decentralization: expenditure assignment, revenue assignment, and intergovernmental transfers. In the real world, almost all countries have these three pillars. However, there are no two countries alike because of the different possibilities at hand in designing a decentralized fiscal framework. Here, the international experience is studied to shed some light on the various institutional and practical issues arising in the design and implementation of fiscal decentralization. Not surprisingly, results vary widely, and this experience suggests that there are different ways of achieving a successful framework. Therefore, this paper intends to point and describe the key elements that contribute to achieving an effective decentralized fiscal framework that responds more efficiently to the demands of its constituencies

Efectos de las transferencias provinciales en los gastos municipales : El caso de la provincia de Buenos Aires

El presente trabajo se centra en el análisis de los efectos de las transferencias provenientes de la provincia de Buenos Aires hacia los municipios que la conforman. Se investiga la incidencia de las mismas sobre el gasto total y su desagregación según finalidad y objeto del gasto. En este sentido, se testea la existencia de flypaper effect, bandwagonism effect y la hipótesis de asimetría. Para ello se utilizan regresiones de datos de panel mediante los cuales se confirma la existencia de flypaper effect, pero no del bandwagonism effect. Finalmente la evidencia sobre la hipótesis de asimetría es confirmada en el caso del Gasto Total siendo del tipo de Asimetría por “Inducción Fiscal” y es ambigua en el caso de desagregación del mismo dependiendo de cada caso particular.Facultad de Ciencias Económica

Le transfert des écoles primaires nationales aux provinces pendant la dernière dictature militaire en Argentine (Entre Ríos, 1976-1978)

Este artículo aborda una problemática que ha representado una inflexión en el sistema educativo argentino: la transferencia de escuelas primarias nacionales a las provincias en el marco de la última dictadura militar. Poniendo el foco en el periodo 1976-1978 y profundizando en la provincia de Entre Ríos, este trabajo pretende evidenciar la oposición de las provincias a la transferencia, las diferencias entre las gestiones de los ministros de Educación Juan Catalán y Ricardo Bruera, la necesidad de legitimar la medida por parte del gobierno dictatorial y el proceso de adaptación administrativa de las provincias una vez concretada la medida.Este artigo aborda um problema que tem representado um ponto de viragem no sistema educativo argentino: a transferência das escolas primárias nacionais para as províncias sob a última ditadura militar. Focalizando o período 1976-1978 e aprofundando na província de Entre Ríos, este documento procura destacar a oposição das províncias à transferência, as diferenças entre os esforços dos Ministros da Educação Juan Catalán e Ricardo Bruera, a necessidade de legitimar a medida pelo governo ditatorial e o processo de adaptação administrativa das províncias uma vez que a medida seja implementada.This article addresses a problem that has represented a turning point in the Argentine education system: the transfer of national primary schools to the provinces under the last military dictatorship. Focusing on the period 1976-1978 and delving into the province of Entre Ríos, this paper seeks to highlight the opposition of the provinces to the transfer, the differences between the efforts of the Ministers of Education Juan Catalán and Ricardo Bruera, the need to legitimize the measure by the dictatorial government and the process of administrative adaptation of the provinces once the measure is implemented.Cet article aborde un problème qui a représenté un tournant dans le système éducatif argentin: le transfert des écoles primaires nationales aux provinces sous la dernière dictature militaire. En se concentrant sur la période 1976-1978 et en se penchant sur la province d'Entre Ríos, ce document cherche à mettre en évidence l'opposition des provinces au transfert, les différences entre les efforts des ministres de l'Éducation Juan Catalán et Ricardo Bruera, la nécessité de légitimer la mesure par le gouvernement dictatorial et le processus d'adaptation administrative des provinces une fois la mesure mise en œuvre.Fil: Petitti, Eva Mara. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Instituto de Estudios Sociales. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Estudios Sociales; Argentin

Efectos de las transferencias provinciales en los gastos municipales : El caso de la provincia de Buenos Aires

El presente trabajo se centra en el análisis de los efectos de las transferencias provenientes de la provincia de Buenos Aires hacia los municipios que la conforman. Se investiga la incidencia de las mismas sobre el gasto total y su desagregación según finalidad y objeto del gasto. En este sentido, se testea la existencia de flypaper effect, bandwagonism effect y la hipótesis de asimetría. Para ello se utilizan regresiones de datos de panel mediante los cuales se confirma la existencia de flypaper effect, pero no del bandwagonism effect. Finalmente la evidencia sobre la hipótesis de asimetría es confirmada en el caso del Gasto Total siendo del tipo de Asimetría por “Inducción Fiscal” y es ambigua en el caso de desagregación del mismo dependiendo de cada caso particular.Facultad de Ciencias Económica

The Political Economy of Transition in Laos: from Peripheral Socialism to the Margins of Global Capital

Remarkably, in the view of some observers, a poor and relatively weak government in Laos survives as a one-party state, even as it transforms the country?s political economy in response to declining communist fortunes in the early 1990s and the onslaught of economic globalization. How has the Lao government managed the socialist transformation and capitalist incorporation, while maintaining some semblance of external sovereignty and internal legitimacy? Through the broad lens of political economy and sociology, my research addresses this question, in exploring three areas of Lao state capacity: (1) political structure, (2) public administration, and (3) fiscal management. I rely on several sources: a set of observations during my time on research assignment in Laos (May 2004-April 2005); an examination of governance-related, donor-funded development projects; an exhaustive survey of government laws, regulations, and documents since the reform period; and a review of literature on the political economy of development, market transition, and globalization. To assess different points of view on contemporary Laos, I conducted open-ended interviews with selected Lao officials, townspeople, expatriates, international consultants, and members of the diplomatic and donor communities. From my research, evidence suggests that the Lao government actively promotes political, administrative, and economic centralization over regionally dispersed and fiscally independent provinces. In the transition process, a strong central government capable of regulating and enforcing economic governance has gradually eroded traditional autonomy of Lao provincial authority. The recent history reveals a party apparatus pragmatically adjusting to economic constraints, while consolidating its power base, unifying the country, and exerting its centralizing influence on an ideologically indifferent countryside. Laos is not an isolated case. For many developing countries struggling to build a unitary state and a national economic space of private exchange, centralized control over regionally autonomous regions constitutes one of the major governance challenges of nationally guided development. Contrary to the general global trend of public decentralization in the transition process, Laos provides a stark contrast, offering a valuable insight into the important role of governments in structuring economic relations