International Issues

The purpose of this note is to help both local and national government officials think through possible strategies for addressing one of the fundamental issues facing Serbian municipalities today: How do Serbian local governments increase the revenues they need to improve their public infrastructure while simultaneously creating an environment favorable to private investment and local economic development? This is a dilemma that local governments face throughout the world but which is particularly pressing in many developing and transition countries where local governments must address huge deficits in urban infrastructure without at the same time over taxing their business communities upon which their future growth depends. It is also of particular importance in Nis, the third largest city in Serbia and the economic engine of the southern and least developed part of the country.

For the public sector to deliver public services and achieve its policy objectives, it is critical that public finances are managed well. Critics of decentralization point out that local governments are often administratively weak, and that poor local financial management can negate the potential benefits from decentralization. While the available research suggests that local financial management outcomes are influenced by more than a local government’s financial management practices, little is known in the literature about the determinants of effective local financial management in developing and transition economies. The empirical analysis in this paper uses data for local government authorities in Tanzania in order to explore the relationship between local financial management performance on one hand, and local management practices, local governance, and other local characteristics on the other hand.

Local governments sit at the confluence of formal and informal governance systems in Pakistan. Law and order, service delivery, and citizen interaction with the state take place in villages, towns, and cities, where families, tribes, political parties, religious organizations, and government officials share dominion. In 2001, then-President Pervez Musharraf called for the creation of local governments better attuned to citizen preferences and adept at providing improved services. Today, this autonomy initiative is up for grabs as Pakistan’s provinces reconsider the role of local government and the nation readies for fall elections.

In response to the challenges posed by the Millennium Development Goals, the key stakeholders in international development set out a new agenda to improve the effectiveness of aid. This agenda, embodied in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, articulates a series of commitments reflected by the following tenets: ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing for results, and mutual accountability. The goal of this study was to identify lessons learned from the application of the Paris Declaration tenets in the infrastructure sector and, specifically, to determine whether the unique characteristics of this sector result in unique challenges and opportunities for implementing the tenets. This report, submitted to the Steering Committee by The Urban Institute, presents detailed findings on the Study on Aid Effectiveness in the Infrastructure Sector.

The area of government property asset management is relatively new in public management. Most public wealth is concentrated in public property, and expenses associated with it constitute a substantial part of public budgets. The chapter ventures into two international "hot topics": practical enhancement of public financial resources through better management of property asset and curbing corruption in the historically corrupt area of government-owned property. The chapter provides a conceptual and methodological framework for governmental decision-makers and their advisors and ends by formulating and discussing a number of issues that require further professional and public debate.

The Urban Institute worked with five cities in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan to apply better management practices through the development of Strategic Land Management Plans. UI worked with local governments to make an inventory of municipal land, publicize the results, and develop a strategy that articulated principles for land management. This led to several improvements including proper registration of parcels and proactive policies to lease and sell land through open competition. It also established a model for determining public policy that countered corruption and public deliberation of costs and benefits in the use of local assets. Donor involvement was also critical to success.

The Urban Institute and National League of Cities developed this series of 10 guides for city and county elected officials, and their staffs, to help them obtain and use information about the results of their governments' services in helping their citizens. The Guides address such issues as: improving strategic planning; improving budgeting decisions; reviewing programs throughout the year; helping motivate their government's employees and contractors; and two-way communications with citizens on what citizens are getting for their money. Specific actions are suggested, and examples are provided.

This study, the first comprehensive look at IRS data on more than 26,000 environmental and conservation organizations – 8,000 of which had revenues of $25,000 or more – reveals a core of prominent national organizations and a larger, more rapidly growing universe of regional, local, and other specialized groups. Taken as a whole, the environmental movement expanded in number of organizations, members, and in total revenues almost every year since 1960. It focused less on advocacy than on projects and education, and was younger, more densely networked, and more dependent upon grants and contributions than was the nonprofit sector in general.

This paper examines developments in aggregate income and the labor market of the 28 countries from Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (CEE-FSU) in the period from 1990 to 2006. Income, employment, unemployment and labor market support services are examined in tabulations and time series regressions. Comparisons are made with developments in major countries from other regions of the world.

Private health insurance can lead to interactive effects with the public health system. It is possible that care delivered under private insurance is not replacing public spending, but increasing total national spending on health care. And because comprehensive policies lower the out-of-pocket price for obtaining public services, this type of coverage may increase the use of those services, thereby increasing public spending. This study assesses the impact of private health insurance coverage on the use of health services in New Zealand, using 2002/2003 New Zealand Health Survey data.