Anwar Shah

Bio: Anwar Shah is an academic researcher from Quaid-i-Azam University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Accountability & Public sector. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 64 publications receiving 1248 citations. Previous affiliations of Anwar Shah include Derriford Hospital & University of Agriculture, Peshawar.

Balance, accountability, and responsiveness : lessons about decentralization

Abstract: Decentralized fiscal structures are more suitable in developing countries than centralized structures are, especially when they are supported by strengthening the rule of law, an independent central bank, an independent judiciary, a charter of rights, appropriate limits on various levels of government, institutions for conflict resolution and for the evaluation of government efforts at all levels, and mechanisms (including a free media) for listening and making government accountable to the citizenry. Shah examines the reasons developing countries are reexamining the respective roles of the private sector, civil society, and various levels of government - and considering new fiscal arrangements between national and lower levels of government. Decentralization may be particularly well-suited to developing countries, where central governments are not as well developed as in industrial countries - because information requirements and transaction costs are lower at lower levels of government and the government can be more responsive and accountable to the citizenry. Vital to the success of decentralized decisionmaking, says Shah, are: -A broad public consensus that decentralization is appropriate. -Civil service reform designed to encourage a service orientation, to discourage command-and-control governance and rent-seeking, and to prevent the central government from have a direct say in the recruitment and promotion of subnational civil servants. -Proper monitoring and oversight of governance. Other lessons from experience: -When there is citizen participation and transparency in decisionmaking, limited budgeting, auditing, and accounting systems at the subnational level should not be considered a barrier to decentralization. Those technical capabilities can be borrowed from higher levels of government. -Indonesia and Pakistan provide good examples of assymmetric decentralization, in which various powers can be assigned to different levels of government, depending on capacity. -The delinking of taxing and spending decisions leads to lack of accountability in the public sector. -Revenue-sharing (tax by tax) distorts incentives for efficient tax collection. -Properly structured (simple, transparent, consistent with objectives) fiscal transfers can improve government accountability. Fiscal transfers can also be used to encourage competition for the supply of public goods. In Canada and Chile, for example, Catholic schools compete with public schools for financing. This paper - a product of the Country and Regional Evaluation Division, Operations Evaluation Department - is part of a larger effort in the department to learn lessons of evaluation in improving public sector performance in developing countries. The author may be contacted at ashah@worldbank.org.

Implementing Decentralized Local Governance: A Treacherous Road with Potholes, Detours, and Road Closures

Abstract: During the past two decades, a silent revolution in public sector governance has swept across the globe aiming to move decision making for local public services closer to the people. The countries embracing and adapting to this silent revolution have had diverse motives and followed even more diverse approaches. This paper attempts to present a stylized view of the motivations and approaches used to strengthen local governance. The quest for the right balance, i.e. appropriate division of powers among different levels of government, is not always the primary reason for decentralizing. There is evidence that the decentralization decision may have more to do with short-term political considerations than the long-run benefits of decentralization. To take stock of progress worldwide, we take a comparative look at developments in political, fiscal and administrative decentralization for a selected group of countries. Most of the decentralization literature deals with normative issues regarding the assignment of responsibilities among different levels of government and the design of fiscal transfers. The process of decentralization has not received the attention it deserves as the best laid plans can fail due to implementation difficulties. We revisit major controversies regarding preferred approaches to obtaining a successful outcome. Key approaches examined are big push versus small steps; bottom up vs. top down; and uniform vs. asymmetric decentralization. Finally, Indonesia's 1999 big bang decentralization program is evaluated. The program should be commended for its achievements over a short period of time, however incentives are lacking for local governments to be accountable and responsive to their residents.

Fiscal decentralization in developing and transition economies: progress, problems, and the promise

Abstract: Shah discusses the revolution in public sector thinking that is transforming the public sectors of developing and transition countries. Countries are reconsidering their fiscal systems and searching for the right balance between central government control and decentralized governance. Political decentralization has advanced in most countries. Subnational expenditures in developing countries as a percentage of total public expenditures have also increased over the past two decades. However, the process is far from complete. In many countries, the central government is still involved in the delivery of local services, local governments have few sources of own-revenues, local governments have limited access to borrowing for capital projects, and the design of intergovernmental transfers does neither address regional fiscal equity nor convey appropriate incentives for fiscal discipline, improved service delivery performance, and accountability to citizens. Decentralized public governance can help realign public sector incentives through greater accountability to citizens, and attenuate the "democracy deficit" caused by globalization and the role of supranational institutions and regimes. However, this requires careful examination of the entire fiscal system. Elements of a comprehensive package of fiscal system reforms would include: - Clarifying roles of various levels of government in public service delivery. - Reassigning taxing responsibilities to ensure local revenue autonomy, accountability, and efficiency without endangering an internal common market. - Designing fiscal transfers to ensure regional fiscal equity and to create an enabling environment for innovative and competitive service delivery. - Facilitating responsible credit market access to subnational governments. - Designing institutional arrangements for intergovernmental fiscal relations to better coordinate policies. - Aligning operational capacity with the authorizing environment through the "accountability for results" framework of public management. This paper - a product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Division, World Bank Institute - is part of a larger effort in the institute to disseminate ideas in strengthening responsive, responsible, and accountable public governance.

How Close is Your Government to its People? Worldwide Indicators on Localization and Decentralization

Abstract: This paper is intended to provide an assessment of the impact of the silent revolution of the last three decades on moving governments closer to people to establish fair, accountable, incorruptible and responsive governance. To accomplish this, a unique data set is constructed for 182 countries by compiling data from a wide variety of sources to examine success toward decentralized decision making across the globe. An important feature of this data set is that, for comparative purposes, it measures government decision making at the local level rather than at the sub-national levels used in the existing literature. The data are used to rank countries on political, fiscal and administrative dimensions of decentralization and localization. These sub-indexes are aggregated and adjusted for heterogeneity to develop an overall ranking of countries on the closeness of their government to the people. The resulting rankings provide a useful explanation of the Arab Spring and other recent political movements and waves of dissatisfaction with governance around the world.

Fiscal decentralization in developing and transition economies: progress, problems, and the promise

Abstract: The author discusses the revolution in public sector thinking that is transforming the public sectors of developing and transition countries. Countries are reconsidering their fiscal systems and searching for the right balance between central government control and decentralized governance. Political decentralization has advanced in most countries. Subnational expenditures in developing countries as a percentage of total public expenditures have also increased over the past two decades. However, the process is far from complete. In many countries, the central government is still involved in the delivery of local services, local governments have few sources of own-revenues, local governments have limited access to borrowing for capital projects, and the design of intergovernmental transfers does neither address regional fiscal equity nor convey appropriate incentives for fiscal discipline, improved service delivery performance, and accountability to citizens. Decentralized public governance can help realign public sector incentives through greater accountability to citizens, and attenuate the"democracy deficit"caused by globalization and the role of supranational institutions and regimes. However, this requires careful examination of the entire fiscal system. Elements of a comprehensive package of fiscal system reforms would include: (a) Clarifying roles of various levels of government in public service delivery; (b) Reassigning taxing responsibilities to ensure local revenue autonomy, accountability, and efficiency without endangering an internal common market; (c) Designing fiscal transfers to ensure regional fiscal equity and to create an enabling environment for innovative and competitive service delivery; (d) Facilitating responsible credit market access to subnational governments; (e) Designing institutional arrangements for intergovernmental fiscal relations to better coordinate policies; and (f) Aligning operational capacity with the authorizing environment through the"accountability for results"framework of public management.

반도체 공정 overview

Abstract: With digital equipment becoming increasingly networked, either on wired or wireless networks, for personal and professional use alike, distributed software systems have become a crucial element in information and communications technologies. The study of these systems forms the core of the ARLES' work, which is specifically concerned with defining new system software architectures, based on the use of emerging networking technologies. In this context, we concentrate on the study of distributed systems which bring to life the vision of ubiquitous computing systems, also known as ambient intelligence.

Does Decentralization Increase Government Responsiveness to Local Needs? Evidence from Bolivia

Abstract: This paper examines whether decentralization increases the responsiveness of public investment to local needs using a unique database from Bolivia. Empirical tests show that investment patterns in human capital and social services changed significantly after decentralization. These changes are strongly and positively related to objective indicators of need. Nationally, these changes were driven by the smallest, poorest municipalities investing devolved funds in their highest-priority projects. The findings contradict common claims that local government is too corrupt, institutionally weak, or prone to interest-group capture to improve upon central government's allocation of public resources.