01852cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF011907 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781475504118 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Crivelli, Ernesto. Local Governments' Fiscal Balance, Privatization, and Banking Sector Reform in Transition Countries / Ernesto Crivelli. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2012. 1 online resource (27 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 Several transition economies have undertaken fiscal decentralization reforms over the past two decades along with liberalization, privatization, and stabilization reforms. Theory predicts that decentralization may aggravate fiscal imbalances, unless the right incentives are in place to promote fiscal discipline. This paper uses a panel of 20 transition countries over 19 years to address a central question of fact: Did privatization help to promote local governments' fiscal discipline? The answer is clearly 'no' for privatization considered in isolation. However, privatization and subnational fiscal autonomy along with reforms to the banking system - restraining access to soft financing - may prove effective at improving fiscal balances among local governments. Mode of access: Internet IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2012/146 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2012/146/001.2012.issue-146-en.xml IMF e-Library