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Rethinking the Political Economy of Decentralization: How Elections and Parties Shape the Provision of Local Public Goods

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Abstract

Decentralization is among the most important global trends of the new century, yet there is still no consensus on how to design political institutions to realize its benefits. In this paper, we investigate the political conditions under which decentralization will improve the delivery of public goods. We begin by incorporating insights from political science and economics into a rigorous and formal extension of the “decentralization theorem”. Our extension assumes inter-jurisdictional spillovers and suggests that the interaction of democratic decentralization (popularly elected sub-national governments) and party centralization (the power of national party leaders over subnational office-seekers) will produce the best outcomes for public service delivery. To test this argument empirically, we make use of a new dataset of sub-national political institutions created for this project. Our analyses, which allow us to examine educational outcomes in more than 125 countries across more than 25 years, provide support for our theoretical expectations.

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  • Raúl A. Ponce-Rodríguez & Charles R. Hankla & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Eunice Heredia-Ortiz, 2012. "Rethinking the Political Economy of Decentralization: How Elections and Parties Shape the Provision of Local Public Goods," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1227, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper1227
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    File URL: http://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2015/03/ispwp1227.pdf
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    1. Estache, Antonio & Garsous, Grégoire & Seroa da Motta, Ronaldo, 2016. "Shared Mandates, Moral Hazard, and Political (Mis)alignment in a Decentralized Economy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 98-110.
    2. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Agnese Sacchi, 2017. "The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1095-1129, September.
    3. Raúl A. Ponce-Rodríguez & Charles R. Hankla & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Eunice Heredia-Ortiz, 2016. "Political institutions and federalism: a “strong” decentralization theorem," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1604, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    4. Terrence Iverson & Edward Barbier, 2021. "National and Sub-National Social Distancing Responses to COVID-19," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-15, May.
    5. Kumba Digdowiseiso, 2022. "Is Fiscal Decentralization Growth Enhancing? A Cross-Country Study in Developing Countries over the Period 1990–2014," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Raul A. Ponce-Rodriguez & Charles R. Hankla & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Eunice Heredia-Ortiz, 2017. "The Provision of Local Public Goods in Proportional Representation Electoral Systems with Closed and Open Party Lists," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1714, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    7. Kshitiz Shrestha & Jorge Martinez‐Vazquez & Charles Hankla, 2023. "Political decentralization and corruption: Exploring the conditional role of parties," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 411-439, March.
    8. Daniel Gama e Colombo & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2018. "Fiscal Decentralization and Public R&D Policy: A Country Panel Analysis," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1820, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    9. Meinzen-Dick, Laura, 2020. "Decentralization and Elections in Burkina Faso," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304447, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Mengxue Ji & Zhenming Wu & Dandan Zhu, 2023. "Environmental Vertical Management and Enterprises’ Performance: Evidence from Water Pollution Reduction in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-17, September.
    11. Raul A. Ponce-Rodriguez & Charles R. Hankla & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Eunice Heredia-Ortiz, 2016. "Political Institutions and Federalism: A "Strong" Decentralization Theorem," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1603, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    12. Gamalerio, Matteo, 2020. "Do national political parties matter? Evidence from Italian municipalities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    13. Raul Alberto Ponce Rodriguez & Benito Alan Ponce Rodriguez, 2019. "Social Weights and the Regional Allocation of Inter-Governmental Transfers," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 14(4), pages 745-767, Octubre -.
    14. Geiguen Shin & Byong‐Kuen Jhee, 2021. "Better service delivery, more satisfied citizens? The mediating effects of local government management capacity in South Korea," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 42-67, January.
    15. Vlad Tarko, 2021. "Local Accountability and National Coordination in Fiscal Federalism, by Charles Hankla, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, and Raul Alberto Ponce Rodriguez," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 51(2), pages 16-16.
    16. Gabriel Natividad, 2022. "Decentralizing investment: Evidence from municipal organization after close elections," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 734-761, August.
    17. Estache, Antonio & Garsous, Grégoire & Seroa da Motta, Ronaldo, 2016. "Shared Mandates, Moral Hazard, and Political (Mis)alignment in a Decentralized Economy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 98-110.
    18. Raúl A. Ponce-Rodríguez & Charles R. Hankla & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Eunice Heredia-Ortiz, 2020. "The politics of fiscal federalism: Building a stronger decentralization theorem," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 32(4), pages 605-639, October.
    19. Myerson, Roger B., 2014. "Local foundations for better governance : A Review of Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao's Localizing Development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7131, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H73 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects
    • H74 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Borrowing
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

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