This paper surveys the evolution and implications of fiscal decentralization in Colombia in recent decades. After describing the fiscal decentralization process and its impact on sub-national finances, the paper presents the evolution of departmental public finances, departmental vertical...

For 50 years Bolivia's political party system was a surprisingly robust component of an otherwise fragile democracy. How did a gas pipeline dispute spark a revolution that overturned the political system, destroyed existing political parties, and re-cast the relationship between state and...

We analyze recent developments in Bolivia's politics through the lens of political cleavage theory, in particular cleavage displacement. Bolivia's current party system is characterized by a stable and dominant MAS at one end of the spectrum, and at the other a fractious, unstable collection of...

This book analyzes the reasons for lackluster performance selected Latin American countries in mobilizing subnational own-source revenues and explores policy options to increase these revenues as efficiently and equitably as possible. Seven case studies--Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,...

This paper surveys the evolution and implications of fiscal decentralization in Colombia in recent decades. After describing the fiscal decentralization process and its impact on sub-national finances, the paper presents the evolution of departmental public finances, departmental vertical...

We analyze recent developments in Bolivia's politics through the lens of political cleavage theory, in particular cleavage displacement. Bolivia's current party system is characterized by a stable and dominant MAS at one end of the spectrum, and at the other a fractious, unstable collection of...

For 50 years Bolivia's political party system was a surprisingly robust component of an otherwise fragile democracy. How did a gas pipeline dispute spark a revolution that overturned the political system, destroyed existing political parties, and re-cast the relationship between state and...

Hundreds of studies have failed to establish the effects of decentralisation on a number of important policy goals. This paper examines the cases of Bolivia and Colombia to explore decentralisation’s effects on government responsiveness and poverty-orientation. I first summarize economic data...

We study the theoretical and empirical links between fiscal policy and spatial inequality, with a non-exclusive focus on Latin American countries. We outline the two main dimensions of fiscal policy vis-à-vis economic inequality, and show how these can be used to analyze specific policy...