Democracy, Decentralisation and Deficits in Latin America - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9264160604 ISBN 13: 9789264160606

Publisher: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1998

Synopsis

Within the past decade, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and other Latin American countries have experimented with one form or another of political decentralization. This book considers the problems raised by these activities in Latin America and identifies the challenges yet to be encountered. Because political decentralization devolves financial responsibility to regional and local governments, it can potentially destabilize centrally established fiscal and budgetary goals. The problem, then, is how to reconcile greater institutional democratization with the fiscal rigor and responsibility demanded by the international marketplace. This book brings together papers presented at the eighth annual meeting of the International Forum on Latin American Perspectives sponsored by the OECD Development Centre and the Inter-American Development Bank. The analyses of economists are confronted with the experiences of practitioners from Latin American countries, providing a stimulating examination of the risks and benefits decentralization holds for economic development. Of particular interest are Ricardo Hausmann's suggested "Ten Commandments" for governing fiscal management in decentralized democracies.

About this title

About the Author:

Kiichiro Fukasaku works in the Development Centre of the OECD. Ricardo Hausmann is the director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the Kennedy School of Government. Previously, he served as the first chief economist of the Inter American Development Bank (1994–2000), as minister of planning of Venezuela (1992–93), and as a member of the board of the Central Bank of Venezuela. He is coauthor (with Barry Eichengreen) of Other People's Money: Debt Denomination and Financial Instability in Emerging Market Economies (University of Chicago, 2005).

About this edition

• Publisher: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 9264160604
• ISBN 13: 9789264160606
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216
• Editor: Fukasaku Kiichiro, Hausmann Ricardo