A recent trend in decentralization in several large and diverse countries is the creation of local jurisdictions below the regional level - municipalities, towns, and villages - whose spending is almost exclusively financed by grants from both regional and national governments. This paper argues...

Voters in India are more vigilant in monitoring government at the local than at the national level. In state assembly elections voters reward incumbents for local income growth, and punish them for a rise in inequality, over their entire term in office. But in national elections voters behave...

This article proposes reform ideas for Bihar using advances in economics research on the role of institutions in economic development. Institutions-the formal and informal rules of the ‘game’ of how people interact in society-are fundamental determinants of economic activity and...