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The Other Invisible Hand
How can we ensure high-quality public services such as health care and education? Governments spend huge amounts of public money on public services such as health, education, and social care, and yet the services that are actually delivered are often low quality, inefficiently run, unresponsive to their users, and inequitable in their distribution. In this book, Julian Le Grand argues that the best solution is to offer choice to users and to encourage competition among providers. Le Grand has just completed a period as policy advisor working within the British government at the highest levels, and from this he has gained evidence to support his earlier theoretical work and has experienced the political reality of putting public policy theory into practice. He examines four ways of delivering public services: trust; targets and performance management; \"voice\"; and choice and competition. He argues that, although all of these have their merits, in most situations policies that rely on extending choice and competition among providers have the most potential for delivering high-quality, efficient, responsive, and equitable services. But it is important that the relevant policies be appropriately designed, and this book provides a detailed discussion of the principal features that these policies should have in the context of health care and education. It concludes with a discussion of the politics of choice.
eBook
Financing Metropolitan Governments in Developing Countries
This work uses case studies of urban financing mechanisms in China, India, and Brazil tohelp decision makers in developing countries address the challenges of rapid metropolitangrowth. The report includes policy recommendations and explores the effective useof metropolitan revenue instruments, intergovernmental transfers, public-privatepartnerships, and more.
eBook
FISCAL SPACE FOR EMERGENCIES IN MUNICIPALITIES
Emergencies that have become an integral part of the lives of different municipalities and the threat of their negative consequences requires an adequate response from local governments. The article outlines the main causes of such situations and substantiates the need to address them by joining efforts both at the national level and at the level of local self-government. The concept of fiscal space is considered by the authors as the presence of a certain budget reserve to achieve the desired goals without violating financial stability. In the context of emergencies, this is a fiscal space to fund certain goals, which can sometimes be actualized in a very short time (as happened with the situation in health care in 2020). The possibility of targeting the fiscal space in the field of health care, social protection, overcoming the effects of natural disasters, combating poverty, achieving the goals of sustainable development, etc. is noted. The article presents the results of a study of the impact of emergencies (eg, the COVID-19 pandemic) on the ability of local authorities to respond to their consequences. The authors analyzed budget expenditures to combat COVID-19 and assessed changes in the financial capacity of municipalities and funding priorities, including funding for pandemic control at the national and subnational levels, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on municipal finances in terms of compliance with the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the impact on funding priorities at the local level and municipality development strategies, the ability of local governments to respond to emergencies and highlighted some already tested effective practices. The article examines the methods of forming fiscal space, which were used to overcome the consequences of emergencies: reprioritization of expenditures, improving the efficiency of available resources, revenues to local budgets, which are additionally obtained due to understatement of initial revenue plans, reserve fund. Key words: fiscal space, emergencies, municipal finances, municipalities. JEL Classification r51 Formulas: 0; fig.: 1; tabl.: 1; bibl.: 15.
Journal Article
Municipal finances
This handbook aims to help local government practitioners, particularly staff of medium and large cities, improve strategic management of municipal finances. The demands for pragmatic knowledge are fueled in part by decentralization and fiscal pressures, as transfer of responsibilities from central to local governments are not often accompanied with an adequate transfer of resources. Practitioners seek ideas and tools to control expenditures, strengthen revenues, as well as to tap large external funds, achieve creditworthiness, and adopt good borrowing practices. Advocating sound municipal management based on improved governance and enhanced accountability, this handbook provides a comprehensive picture of municipal finances with a broad scope. The eight chapters cover such topics as fiscal decentralization and intergovernmental finances; management of metropolises; instruments of good financial management; management of revenues, expenditures, assets, and external resources; and performance measurement. Focusing on the perspectives of local officers, this handbook combines theory, pragmatic how-to advice, best practices from global experiences, and possible solutions.
eBook
The Public Wealth of Cities
How to leverage existing resources to meet the current and future needs of cities
Crumbling streets and bridges. Poorly performing schools and inadequate social services. These are common complaints in cities, which too often struggle just to keep the lights on, much less make the long-term investments necessary for future generations.
It doesn't have to be this way. This book by two internationally recognized experts in public finance describes a new way of restoring economic vitality and financial stability to cities, using steps that already have been proven remarkably successful. The key is unlocking social, human, and economic wealth that cities already own but is out of sight-or \"hidden.\" A focus on existing public wealth helps to shift attention and resources from short-term spending to longer-term investments that can vastly raise the quality of life for many generations of urban residents.
A crucial first step is to understand a city's balance sheet-too few cities comprehend how valuable a working tool this can be. With this in hand, taxpayers, politicians, and investors can better recognize the long-term consequences of political decisions and make choices that mobilize real returns rather than rely on more taxes, debt, or austerity.
Another hidden asset is real estate. Even poor cities own large swathes of poorly utilized land, or they control underperforming utilities and other commercial assets. Most cities could more than double their investments with smarter use of these commercial assets. Managing the city's assets smartly through the authors' proposed Urban Wealth Funds-at arm's-length from short-term political influence-will enable cities to ramp up much needed infrastructure investments.
eBook
Exploring the key factors that can enhance municipal financial accountability in Africa : experience from South Africa
The annual financial reports of most local municipalities in South Africa continue to lack credibility due to lack of operational and managerial competence of municipal financial employees handling municipal finances. This is evidenced by reported instances of continued irresponsible expenditures and municipal financial malpractices that have limited achieving clean audit reports by so many municipalities in South Africa. This study aims to investigate measures that could be implemented in municipalities to amplify and encourage financial accountability. A qualitative study was adopted and data was collected using online interviews. Data was analysed using Atlas-ti software (Version 8.2). The study identified that the main causes of financial misappropriation and the inability to achieve clean audit reports by municipalities include the inability to effectively implement internal control measures, benchmarking, risk management, financial management, and the poor performance of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee. The primary recommendation is that training should be mandated and facilitated in the financial departments of all local municipalities in South Africa. The primary intervention being to educate municipal employees on how to appropriate municipal finance and facilitate sound consequent management. In addition to the primary recommendation, it is recommended that the human resource departments of municipalities exercise swift, fair, impartial, and severe intervention whenever misappropriation is proven. Through the combined effect of the suggested interventions, only erudite talents should be employed to handle municipal financial matters.
Journal Article