IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ays/ispwps/paper0907.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

West Bengal: Fiscal Decentralization to Rural Governments: Analysis and Reform Options

Author

Abstract

This report is about the fiscal performance of rural local governments in the state of West Bengal. Specifically, our goal is to develop a comprehensive fiscal information system for all rural local governments, and to use these data to valuate the intergovernmental finance structure in the state. The work is of significant policy importance, given the need to implement programs to respond to the constitutional amendments mandating fiscal decentralization, and to support central and state government initiatives to use the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) as an important part of its poverty alleviation strategy. A more immediate need in West Bengal (and other states as well) is to support the work of the State Finance Commissions to better integrate rural local governments into the intergovernmental fiscal framework. To date, there has not been a comprehensive review of rural local government finance in West Bengal.

Suggested Citation

  • Roy Bahl & Geeta Sethi & Sally Wallace, 2009. "West Bengal: Fiscal Decentralization to Rural Governments: Analysis and Reform Options," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0907, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0907
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2015/03/ispwp0907.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roy Bahl (ed.), 2003. "Restructuring Local Government Finance in Developing Countries," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2930.
    2. Roy Bahl & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2013. "Sequencing Fiscal Decentralization," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 14(2), pages 641-687, November.
    3. Nirvikar Singh & T.N. Srinivasan, 2004. "Indian Federalism, Economic Reform and Globalization," Public Economics 0412007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Miss Catriona Purfield, 2004. "The Decentralization Dilemma in India," IMF Working Papers 2004/032, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Roy Bahl & Sally Wallace, 2007. "Intergovernmental Transfers: The Vertical Sharing Dimension," Springer Books, in: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Bob Searle (ed.), Fiscal Equalization, chapter 0, pages 205-249, Springer.
    6. Fox, William F. & Gurley, Tami, 2006. "Will consolidation improve sub-national governments ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3913, The World Bank.
    7. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Andrey Timofeev & Jameson Boex, 2006. "Reforming Regional-Local Finance in Russia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6925.
    8. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Bob Searle, 2007. "Challenges in the Design of Fiscal Equalization and Intergovernmental Transfers," Springer Books, in: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Bob Searle (ed.), Fiscal Equalization, chapter 0, pages 3-10, Springer.
    9. Mr. Richard Miller Bird, 1999. "Rethinking Subnational Taxes: A New Look At Tax Assignment," IMF Working Papers 1999/165, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Wallack,Jessica & Srinivasan,T. N. (ed.), 2006. "Federalism and Economic Reform," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521855808, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mr. Luc Eyraud & Ms. Lusine Lusinyan, 2011. "Decentralizing Spending More Than Revenue: Does it Hurt Fiscal Performance?," IMF Working Papers 2011/226, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Darshini J S & K Gayithri, 2019. "Fiscal dependency of States in India," Working Papers 433, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
    3. Juan Luis Gomez & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Cristian Sepúlveda, 2011. "Reining in Provincial Fiscal ‘Owners’: Decentralization in Lao PDR," Chapters, in: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & François Vaillancourt (ed.), Decentralization in Developing Countries, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Irina N. Ilina & Carol S. Leonard & Evgenij E. Plisetskij, 2014. "Russian Regional Resilience: Finance, Cooperation And Resource Abundance (A Case Study Of Khanty-Mansiysk)," HSE Working papers WP BRP 15/PA/2014, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    5. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2011. "Municipal Finances in Latin America: Features, Issues, and Prospects," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1107, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    6. Jorge Martínez-Vázquez, 2008. "Revenue Assignments in the Practice of Fiscal Decentralization," Chapters, in: Núria Bosch & José M. Durán (ed.), Fiscal Federalism and Political Decentralization, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Richard M. Bird, 2011. "Subnational Taxation In Developing Countries: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(01), pages 139-161.
    8. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Cristian Sepulveda, 2012. "Toward a More General Theory of Revenue Assignments," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1231, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    9. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Nicolas Guadalupe Zuniga Espinoza, 2010. "Fiscal Transfers a Curse or Blessing? Evidence of Their Effect on Tax Effort for Municipalities in Sinaloa, Mexico," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1030, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    10. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Cristian Sepúlveda, 2007. "The Municipal Transfer System in Nicaragua:Evaluation and Proposals for Reform," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0708, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    11. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Cristian Sepulveda, 2020. "A Theoretical Rationale for the Fiscal-Gap Model of Equalization Transfers," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 76(1), pages 1-28.
    12. Gu, Gyun Cheol, 2012. "Developing Composite Indicators for Fiscal Decentralization: Which Is The Best Measure For Whom?," MPRA Paper 43032, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. James Alm & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez *, 2015. "Re-designing equalization transfers: an application to South Africa provincial equitable share," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 49(1), pages 1-22, January-M.
    14. Richard M. Bird, 2013. "Below the Salt: Decentralizing Value-Added Taxes," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1302, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    15. Paul Smoke, 2014. "Why theory and practice are different: The gap between principles and reality in subnational revenue systems," Chapters, in: Richard M. Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), Taxation and Development: The Weakest Link?, chapter 9, pages 287-325, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Richard M. Bird, 2015. "Fiscal Decentralization and Decentralizing Tax Administration: Different Questions, Different Answers," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1509, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    17. Gangadha Prasad Shukla & Duc Minh Pham & Michael Engelschalk & Tuan Minh Le, 2011. "Tax Reform in Vietnam," World Bank Publications - Reports 26851, The World Bank Group.
    18. World Bank, 2007. "China : Improving Rural Public Finance for the Harmonious Society," World Bank Publications - Reports 7664, The World Bank Group.
    19. Ms. Izabela Karpowicz, 2012. "Narrowing Vertical Fiscal Imbalances in Four European Countries," IMF Working Papers 2012/091, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Roy Bahl & Musharraf Cyan, 2009. "Local Government Taxation in Pakistan," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0909, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    West Bengal; Fiscal Decentralization; Decentralization;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0907. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Paul Benson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ispgsus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.