01985cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF007215 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781455263431 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL International Monetary Fund. Measuring Fiscal Decentralization : Exploring the IMF's Databases. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2011. 1 online resource (30 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Conventional wisdom postulates that there are benefits from decentralizing government finances but there is little empirical evidence about actual country practices. This paper presents data on fiscal decentralization for about 80 countries over a period of about 20 years (1990-2008) from the IMF's Government Finance Statistics Yearbook (GFSY), the only global database with fiscal data for several levels of government. The data show that in many countries, revenue collection remains relatively more centralized than expenditures and that employment tends to be concentrated in lower levels of government. Except for transition economies, the levels of decentralization are relatively stable over the time period. The findings are shown by degree of economic development, constitutional power arrangements, and geographic area, broadly confirming key factors identified in the literature as determining the extent of fiscal decentralization. Mode of access: Internet IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2011/126 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2011/126/001.2011.issue-126-en.xml IMF e-Library