There are two dimensions to the structure of an intergovernmental transfer: the vertical share and the horizontal share (Bahl and Linn, 19921). The vertical share is the total pool of funds to be allocated to subnational governments, while the horizontal shares are the amounts received by...

For almost 20 years, the Nicaraguan authorities have been implementing a fiscal decentralization process to devolve an increasing degree of autonomy to municipalities. As a part of this process, and mainly due to the efforts of the Association of Municipalities of Nicaragua (AMUNIC is the...

For almost 20 years, the Nicaraguan authorities have been implementing a fiscal decentralization process to devolve an increase. ng degree of autonomy to municipalities. As a part of this process, and mainly due to the efforts of the Association of Municipalities of Nicaragua (AMUNIC is the...

Municipal amalgamation is often seen as one way to ensure that municipalities are large enough to be financially and technically capable of providing the extensive array of services with which they are charged. The idea is presumably that municipalities will be able not only to reap economies of...

Various state-based and national reports into Australian local government have conclusively demonstrated that the problem of financial sustainability is widespread amongst local councils, especially in non-metropolitan areas. The main impact of this financial distress has fallen on local...

Municipal corporate centres not only perform multiple administrative functions, including supervision, monitoring and budgeting of the overall operation of local government, but also absorb significant resources. From a public policy perspective, it is thus important to determine whether...

An inquiry into water and wastewater in NSW recommended the 'regionalisation' of water services away from local councils. However, these recommendations have yet to be implemented. This paper argues that any 'regionalisation' of water services will have disastrous results on the financial...