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Shared accountability and partial decentralization in local public good provision

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  • Joanis, Marcelin
Abstract
Recent decentralization reforms in developing countries have often lead to the coexistence of multiple tiers of government in given policy areas, triggering new accountability issues. This paper provides a novel theoretical treatment of the efficiency consequences of such ‘partial expenditure decentralization.’ It develops a political agency model in which two levels of government are involved in the provision of a local public good, with voters imperfectly informed about each government's contribution to the public good. A central result of the model is that partial decentralization is desirable only if the benefits of vertical complementarity in public good provision outweigh the costs of reduced accountability, which result from detrimental vertical strategic interactions operating through the electoral process. Through variants of the model, the interplay between decentralization and democratization is analyzed. From a positive point of view, the model predicts a relationship between electoral incentives and equilibrium decentralization.

Suggested Citation

  • Joanis, Marcelin, 2014. "Shared accountability and partial decentralization in local public good provision," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 28-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:107:y:2014:i:c:p:28-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.11.002
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Partial decentralization; Accountability; Shared responsibility; Local public goods; Vertical interactions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O23 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Development
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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