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Financial Resource Base of Sub‐national Governments and Fiscal Decentralization in Ghana
Author(s) -
Inanga Eno L.,
OseiWusu David
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
african development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1467-8268
pISSN - 1017-6772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8268.2004.00085.x
Subject(s) - decentralization , autonomy , politics , government (linguistics) , economics , context (archaeology) , central government , fiscal federalism , resource (disambiguation) , economic system , fiscal union , economic policy , business , finance , economic growth , local government , fiscal policy , political science , public administration , macroeconomics , market economy , linguistics , philosophy , law , paleontology , computer network , computer science , biology
The past two decades have witnessed numerous attempts in developing countries at institutionalizing decentralization. Political leaders tended, before then, to believe that centralized planning was the key to economic growth and development. Ghana has not been excluded from this wave towards the transfer of power, competences, resources and functions from the centre to local levels of government. While Ghana has achieved significant political and administrative decentralization as well as decentralized planning, fiscal decentralization has been the unyielding component of the process. This paper examines the desirability, or otherwise, of fiscal decentralization in the context of funding arrangements. It uses the funding regime model as a basis for analysing how regulatory provisions, political and economic factors and practices, determine financial capacity of sub‐national governments. Evidence in the paper leads to the conclusion that sub‐national governments in Ghana do not support fiscal autonomy. They, instead, prefer being served and financed by the central government.