Lliçons de la pau a Aceh: descentralització administrativa i llibertat política com a estratègia de pacificació a Aceh

Aquest document de treball mostra l’evolució del conflicte a Aceh fins a la seva resolució pacífica el 2005. La clau de l’èxit d’aquest procés de pau ha estat la confluència de diversos factors lligats a les dinàmiques internes i externes del país: un nou lideratge polític, la pèrdua de rol per part dels militars, el recolzament internacional i l’acomodació dels objectius de les dues parts, entre d’altres. La resolució del conflicte a Aceh posa de manifest com la descentralització administrativa i el foment de la participació política dels principals actors involucrats han permès desenvolupar una alternativa sòlida a l’estratègia armada de resolució de conflictes utilitzada durant diversos anys a Indonèsia.

The Barcelona Forum: on decentralized governance and conflict prevention 6-8 july 2009

The Barcelona Forum aimed to generate both a theoretical and practical discussion on decentralized governance and its capacity to promote peace, prevent conflict, advance human security and ensure greater governmental accountability. The Forum intended to review the theoretical strength of decentralization as a political tool and discuss how it can be properly implemented. Eight case studies were selected to be covered during the two days in order to draw conclusions and offer proposals for the future implementation of decentralization. The case of Catalonia and the decentralized experience of Spain was given special attention, as an example of successful decentralization. The other cases presented achievements and challenges and prompted discussions on both the validity and universality of decentralization as a way to promote and preserve peace. Topics such as ethnic and territorial divisions, democratic accountability, financial decentralization and distribution, resource sharing, and external implementation of decentralization through peace processes were discussed.

If you want me to stay, pay

Devolution of political power is constantly on the political agenda in both Italy and Spain. Fiscal policy in these countries has granted specific privileges to some regions. Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste,(VdA) and País Vasco-Euskadi (PV) have an extensive say over spending decisions, and receive nearly all regional tax revenues. Although both VdA and PV are among the richest regions in each country, both are net beneficiaries of the fiscal equalisation system. This preferential treatment is the outcome of a fiscal system with limits on taxing power and debt issuance, and is meant as a compensation for the lack of autonomy. It so prevents calls for more fiscal autonomy, or even outright secession. The economic effects of this asymmetric federalism are negative Although partial equalisation reduces excessive redistribution built in the fiscal equalisation system, more autonomy could pay off with more efficient government. Asymmetric federalism moreover creates a political impasse in the negotiation of a more efficient tax system and financing arrangement.

Institucionalidad social en América Latina

Incluye Bibliografía

Búsqueda de cohesión social y sostenibilidad fiscal en los procesos de descentralización

Incluye Bibliografía

Búsqueda de cohesión social y sostenibilidad fiscal en los procesos de descentralización

Incluye Bibliografía

Gobiernos interiores.

Mode of access: Internet.

Descentralización y regionalismo /

Mode of access: Internet.

Descentralización fiscal y crecimiento económico en Colombia: evidencia de datos de panel a nivel regional

En este trabajo se ofrece evidencia de los efectos positivos de la descentralización fiscal en el crecimiento económico regional en Colombia desde la promulgación de la Constitución Política de 1991. La estrategia empírica incluyó la elección de un estimador adecuado para el enfoque de panel de datos, el estimador “promedio del grupo aumentado” (amg, por sus siglas en inglés), que permitió agregar factores determinantes no observados, sugeridos por la literatura, a los factores explicativos de largo plazo tradicionales. La estrategia se complementó con ejercicios que brindaron apoyo a los resultados de i) modelos de corte transversal para diferentes períodos y diversas variables de control, ii) una prueba de la hipótesis de complementariedad entre los bienes públicos suministrados por diferentes jurisdicciones (efectos indirectos), y iii) una evaluación de la convergencia incondicional en las diferencias de ingreso regionales.

El juego de las políticas públicas: Reglas y decisiones sociales

El Juego de las políticas públicas -- Reglas y decisiones sociales es un libro que se deja leer con facilidad y sus propuestas conceptuales son un buen punto de partida para generar discusiones y cerrar otras, para articular discursos, para proponer metodologías de análisis, de ahí su valía teórica -- Constituye un paso en la dirección correcta para enriquecer el análisis de políticas públicas, en un país como Colombia donde se habla del tema con extrema flexibilidad, y donde los conceptos construidos en otras latitudes no se adaptan a nuestras realidades institucionales y culturales -- Ese esfuerzo de adaptación es un valor agregado de la obra

Fiscal decentralization policies and sub-national government debt in evolving federations

As part of a process of democratization, many countries spanning Europe, Latin Amertica, Africa, and Asia are reorganizing their governments bydevolving fiscal responsibility and authority to newly empowered regionaland local governments. Although decentralization in each country proceedsdifferently, a common element tends to be an initially heavy relianceon central government grants to fund regional spending. We develop atheoretical model of regional borrowing decisions in which the incentivesfor regional borrowing depend crucially on how the regions expect thefederal system of finance to evolve. We examine the implications of themodel using data on Spanish regions for the period 1984-1995 and findevidence that regions may be borrowing inefficiently in response toincentives imbedded in the Spanish system of fiscal decentralization.

Government decentralization and disaster impact, an exploratory study

The purpose of this study is to explore the link between decentralization and the impact of natural disasters through empirical analysis. It addresses the issue of the importance of the role of local government in disaster response through different means of decentralization. By studying data available for 50 countries, it allows to develop the knowledge on the role of national government in setting policy that allows flexibility and decision making at a local level and how this devolution of power influences the outcome of disasters. The study uses Aaron Schneider’s definition and rankings of decentralization, the EM-DAT database to identify the amount of people affected by disasters on average per year as well as World Bank Indicators and the Human Development Index (HDI) to model the role of local decentralization in mitigating disasters. With a multivariate regression it looks at the amount of affected people as explained by fiscal, administrative and political decentralization, government expenses, percentage of urbanization, total population, population density, the HDI and the overall Logistics Performance Indicator (LPI). The main results are that total population, the overall LPI and fiscal decentralization are all significant in relation to the amount of people affected by disasters for the countries and period studied. These findings have implication for government’s policies by indicating that fiscal decentralization by allowing local governments to control a bigger proportion of the countries revenues and expenditures plays a role in reducing the amount of affected people in disasters. This can be explained by the fact that local government understand their own needs better in both disaster prevention and response which helps in taking the proper decisions to mitigate the amount of people affected in a disaster. The reduction in the implication of national government might also play a role in reducing the time of reaction to face a disaster. The main conclusion of this study is that fiscal control by local governments can help reduce the amount of people affected by disasters.

Improved case management and continued government investment are needed for malaria eradication in Henan Province, China

A two-year study of malaria control began in Henan Province following cuts in government malaria spending in 1993. Cost data were collected from all government levels and on treatment-seeking (diagnosis, treatment) from 12,325 suspected malaria cases in two endemic counties. The cost burden was found to fall mainly on patients, but using government infrastructure. Good stewardship requires continuing government investment, to at least current levels, along with improved case management. In mainland China, vivax malaria is a significant factor in poverty and economic underdevelopment.