Is decentralization good for development? Perspectives from academics and policy makers.

Decentralization research has become more quantitative and formal over the past two decades. But as technical rigor has increased, the focus of research has narrowed to decentralization’s effects on particular policy variables, leaving aside larger, more nuanced and complex questions of crucial importance to policymakers contemplating reform. This book seeks to return attention to issues like this that rank among policymakers’ first concerns, but are methodologically difficult to answer. We do this by marrying the insights and experience of senior policymakers involved in driving decentralization forward at the highest levels, with academics working at the forefront of the field in economics, politics, and development and policy studies. This chapter introduces the book by analyzing the following questions: Why do politicians decentralize in the first place? How can reform be made politically feasible? How can decentralization lead to improved development outcomes? Do municipalities compete amongst themselves, and what effects might this have on public policy and services? Will decentralization promote clientelism or broad-based development? And finally, will decentralization strengthen or weaken developing states? The evidence presented in the book provides a firm basis for concrete answers to all of these questions, allied to specific policy advice for aspiring reformers

Local government taxation and accountability in Mexico

The taxation-accountability theory broadly states that if governments are dependent on taxation, they will become less corrupt and more accountable to citizens. The need to raise tax revenue is said to spark incentives that lead to mutually beneficial bargaining between government and citizens. Citizens agree to make tax payments in return for more accountable governance and increased influence in government decision-making. Several scholars have shown empirical evidence in support of this taxationaccountability theory at the national level, yet few have studied it at the local government level. This paper explores this theory in the context of Mexican municipal governments using a mixed methods research approach. It first surveys the relationship between taxation and accountability using econometric analysis and then employs a comparative case study of six urban municipalities that are under considerable pressure to raise their tax revenue. The latter is based on several months of field research conducted in the states of Guerrero, Tabasco, Baja California Sur, Aguascalientes, Yucatán and Coahuila. It reveals the processes that evolve from revenue pressure, whether they lead to tax bargaining, and the extent to which greater accountability can be expected as a result. The findings provide some evidence of tax bargaining and positive correlations between the importance of taxation in a government’s budget and accountability. However, the causal link to greater accountability is not straightforward and is greatly hindered by the institutional framework surrounding local government. While implicit agreements between government and citizens showed that equilibrium between taxation and accountability was consistently maintained, restrictions on local power and other institutional factors stood in the way of increased local taxation sparking greater local accountability. These factors may be remedied by reform

Decentralizing for a deeper, more supple democracy

Well-designed decentralization can deepen democracy and strengthen the state in five key ways. Decentralizing below the level of social cleavages should undermine secessionism by peeling away moderates from radical leaders. The “fragmentation of authority” critique is mistaken; decentralization transforms the state from a simpler, brittler command structure to one of multilevel complementarity more robust to local failure. Decentralizing services with low economies of scale, with devolved taxation and bail-outs prohibited, should increase accountability. Lastly, the small scale of local politics allows citizens to become political actors, promoting social learning-by-doing, strengthening political legitimacy and ‘democratic suppleness’ from the grass-roots upwards

The impact of taxes on the competitiveness of European Tourism

Tourism is an important economic sector bringing a very substantial contribution to the EU economy. Achieving growth in this increasingly competitive international market requires a supportive regulatory environment, and taxation is a core component of this. While on the one hand taxes directly impact the margins made by businesses and the prices faced by tourists, on the other hand they are an important source of government revenue, which in turn is used to finance infrastructure and support to the tourism sector.This study’s objective is to review the current tourism-related tax structures in place at a national level in the EU-28 countries. This includes compiling a database of the current tourism-related taxes at the national level in the EU and an analysis of the effects of tourism taxes on the competitiveness of tourism enterprises.The study’s empirical evidence suggests a strong case for reduced taxes on tourists in order to improve the competitiveness of tourist destinations and support the local tourism sector. However, given the need to raise revenue on the one hand and the need to maintain competitiveness on the other, policy makers need to carefully design the tax system so as to balance these conflicting objectives

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 1 - Executive Summary

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization.The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 4 - Detectors

This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics.This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics