Overview

I woke up at 3:30 on a steamy December morning at my hotel at McCarthy Hill, Accra, to prepare to take the early morning Vanef-STC bus operating on the Accra-Kumasi line. At 4am, the front desk called to inform me that I had requested a 3:45am wake-up time the night before. I figured a IS-minute tardiness is still within acceptable limits in Africa. Surprisingly, my bus left on time. Though it was filled to capacity (I could only find a seat in the middle row), the ride on ""state transport"" as it is called, was as smooth as it could be, given the dismal conditions of portions of the Accra-Kumasi road and the very loud local music emanating from the bus' speakers. As we drove through the lush forests of the Eastern Region, many thoughts crossed my mind regarding the effects of the current economic and democratic reforms (including decentralization) under way in the country, on the average person in Ghana. The bus company that I was patronizing, Vanef-STC, was itself a product of government divestiture from and privatization - an economic decentralization - of the previous State Transport Cooperation. I was informed that the perception by the users of ""state transport"" is that ever since the take-over by Vanef-STC, the quality of service has declined. This in tum was due to prolonged litigation by workers who felt that they had been wronged in the process of state divestiture.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sylvain H. Boko
Publisher:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Imprint:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Edition:   Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2002
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 0.90cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.267kg
ISBN:  

9781461353997

ISBN 10:   1461353998
Pages:   143
Publication Date:   23 October 2012
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

1. Decentralization: definitions, theories and debate.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Types of Decentralization.- 3. The Theoretical Debate on Decentralization.- 4. Can Decentralization Destabilize Economic Reform?.- 2. The General Structure of Decentralization in Mali and Ghana.- 1. Overview.- 2. MALI.- 3. GHANA.- 3. The General Structure of Decentralization in Burkina Faso and Benin.- 1. BURKINA FASO.- 2. BENIN.- 4. The General Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Four African Countries.- 1. General Considerations.- 2. Designing a Fiscal Decentralization Program.- 3. The Role and Impact of International Development Aid.- 4. The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Mali.- 5. The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Ghana.- 6. The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Burkina Faso.- 7 The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Benin.- 5. Empirical Evidence on Fiscal Decentralization in Four African Countries.- 1. Understanding the Data.- 2. Quality Indicators of Fiscal Decentralization.- 3. The Quantitative Indicators.- 6. The Macroeconomic Impacts of Fiscal Decentralization.- 1. General Considerations.- 2. Statistical Evidence on Intergovernmental Coordination Failures.- 3. Analyzing the Data.- 7. Conclusions and Recommendations.- 1 On the Fiscal Strength of Local Communities.- 2 Some Suggestions on Improving Intergovernmental Fiscal Coordination.- 3 On Local Government Borrowing Capabilities.- 4. The importance of Associating Local Governments to Central Government Decision-making Process.- 5. Final Remarks.- List of Abbreviations.- References.

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