Decentralization is now taking place in the public administrations of most countries of the world. A critical determinant of the effective performance of local governments is finance'their ability to both mobilize financial resources and to use those resources effectively and efficiently. This book explores the variety of methods used to ensure that fiscal decentralization takes place alongside administrative decentralization. It considers the range of revenue sources available, the design systems of intergovernmental transfers between central and local government, and the kinds of rules and procedures necessary to ensure that local governments use their financial resources appropriately. The experiences described in this book will help local government managers and national policy makers charged with local government finance issues to ensure that they follow good practice in their own program of local government reform.

Nick Devas is Director of the International Development Department, School of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham, UK.

Munawwar Alam is Adviser on Sub-National Government and Administration in the Governance and Institutional Development Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Simon Delay is a consultant and lecturer at the School of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham, UK.

Roger Oppong Koranteng is senior lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana.

Pritha Venkatachalam is a financial specialist and senior consultant at Cambridge Economic Policy Associates, UK.