Public Sector Decentralization: Economic Policy and Sector Investment Programs

This paper summarizes experience with alternative decentralization arrangements and suggests a new analytical framework for assessing the impact of such arrangements on the performance of economic development programs and projects. Consideration of alternative forms of decentralization reveals the need to clarify and establish priorities among multiple economic development and political objectives. The potential for conflict among multiple objectives and the need to assess decentralization policies in terms of acceptable trade-offs among those objectives summarizes the importance of this paper. This paper is addressed to the broad audience of development professionals who are interested in both the substance of decentralization issues and their impact on economic development.