Reforming Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and the Rebuilding of Indonesia: The 'Big Bang' Program and its Economic Consequences

by James Alm, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Sri Mulyani Indrawati

Overview

Indonesia is currently facing some severe challenges, both in political affairs and in economic management. One of these challenges is the recently enacted decentralization program, now well underway, which promises to have some wide-ranging consequences. This edited volume presents original papers, written by a select group of widely recognized and distinguished scholars, that take a hard, objective look at the many effects of decentralization on economic and political issues in Indonesia.

There are many questions about this program: how will it be implemented, is there capacity at the local level to implement its reforms, is there sufficient local political accountability to make it work, and how will the decentralization affect the broader program of economic growth and stabilization? Topics covered include: the historical and political dimensions of decentralization, its macroeconomic effects, its effects on poverty alleviation, the assignment of expenditure and revenue functions across levels of government, the design of transfers, the role of natural resource taxation and the effects of local government borrowing.

An authoritative, comprehensive collection, Reforming Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and the Rebuilding of Indonesia will be of interest to economists and policy makers as well as students of public finance, development, and Asian economics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781843764519
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	02/20/2005
Series:	Studies in Fiscal Federalism and State-local Finance series
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edited by James Alm, Professor and Chair, Department of Economics, Tulane University, US, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Emeritus Regents Professor of Economics and former Director, Center for State and Local Finance, Fiscal Research Center and International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, US and Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance, Indonesia

Table of Contents

Contents: 1. Introduction Part I: The History and Politics of the ‘Big Bang’ Decentralization 2. The Making of the ‘Big Bang’ and its Aftermath: A Political Economy Perspective 3. Political Reforms, Decentralization and Democratic Consolidation in Indonesia 4. The Policy of Decentralization in Indonesia Part II: Expenditure and Tax Assignment 5. Expenditure Assignment under Indonesia’s Emerging Decentralization: A Review of Progress and Issues for the Future 6. Local tax Revenue Mobilization in Indonesia’s Decentralizing Era 7. Combining Expenditure Assignment, Revenue Assignment and Grant Design in Indonesia’s Fiscal Decentralization Part III: Closing the Fiscal Gap: Transfers, Borrowing and Natural Resource Revenues 8. An Analysis of Indonesia’s Transfer System: Recent Performance and Future Prospects 9. How Should Revenues from Natural Resources be Shared in Indonesia? 10. Decentralization and Local Government Borrowing in Indonesia Part IV: An Initial Assessment of Progress 11. Indonesian Decentralization: Opportunities Appear but Risks Abound 12. The Indonesian Experience with the Implementation of Regional Autonomy 13. Decentralization and the Challenge for Indonesian Fiscal Sustainability Part V: Lessons from International Experience and the Current State of Decentralization 14. Implementing Decentralized Local Government: A Treacherous Road with Potholes, Detours and Road Closures 15. The Current State of Decentralization Reform in Indonesia: A Postscript Index