Non-Democratic Federalism and Decentralization in Post-Soviet States


Book Description

This book challenges the common perception of authoritarian regimes as incompatible with federalism and decentralization. It examines how the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan have managed to exploit federalism and decentralization as useful instruments to help them preserve control, avoid political instability, and to shift blame to the regional authorities in times of crises and policy failures. The authors explain how post-Soviet authoritarian regimes balance the advantages and risks and emphasize the contradictory role of external influences and threats to the institutional design of federalism and decentralization. Advancing our understanding of how the institutions of federalism and decentralization are skillfully constrained, but at the same time used by authoritarian incumbents, they show that federalism and decentralization matter in non-democracies, though the nondemocratic character of the political systems greatly modifies their effects. The authors show the implication of the COVID-19 crisis and current Russian war against Ukraine for the center-regional relations in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of post-Soviet politics, decentralization, federalism, and modern authoritarianism.




Decentralization and Regional Disparities


Book Description

Decentralization as a method for tackling regional disparities has been implemented in countries throughout the world in the last two decades. Some scholars have noticed that decentralization is a multi-dimensional concept. However, there is still no consensus about the dimensions’ selection. In this book, based on the measurable and comparable principles, the relationships between three dimensions of fiscal, administrative and welfare decentralization are considered, and the evolution of regional inequalities in OECD countries and in China are explored. Economic data of 26 OECD countries (17 relatively rich countries, and 9 relatively poor ones) during the period from 1996 to 2009 was used to formulate regression models. It was found that fiscal decentralization, especially the decentralizing of tax authorities in relatively backward countries, has been associated with a significant rise in regional disparities. Moreover, according to the statistical results for the countries in the sample, welfare centralization and suitable local government size can lead to a reduction in regional disparities. In the case of China, data analysis and institutional one were paired in order to assess the dynamic relationships between decentralization and regional disparities (from the three dimensions mentioned above). An unstable, nonstandard and asymmetrical fiscal decentralization system directly results in regional disparities, which can be strengthened by a highly decentralized public service delivery system. In addition, rigid government size, segmented government structures and ‘yardstick’ competition mechanisms (used for creating competition among local governments) hinder coordination and cooperation in and among regions, and further exacerbate regional disparities.




Taxation in ASEAN and China


Book Description

China and the ASEAN region have risen rapidly to a position of immense economic significance in the global economy. Academics, policy makers and businesses are all keen to understand more about taxation in China and ASEAN, and this work seeks to address this key issue by providing a comprehensive overview of the many often mentioned but little understood challenges of doing business in the region. Traversing a wide range of regional issues and jurisdictions, topics covered include the role of DTAs in regional integration, the impact of social institutions on tax, corruption and its causes, economic development and taxation and the use of education in developing systems. Case studies are taken from countries such as China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. Drawing on the results of these discussions, the book also sheds light on the question of whether different taxing institutions are needed in the region. Gathering together a cross-disciplinary group of eminent scholars, this work will be of great interest to all students and scholars of Asian economics, Asian finance and taxation in general.




Tax Systems and Tax Reforms in South and East Asia


Book Description

This book examines the present status, recent tax reforms and planned tax policies in some South and East Asia countries since the 1990s. The evidence is presented in a user friendly manner, but at the same time uses technically sophisticated methods. The main countries studied are China, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand. It is unique for being the first systematic treatment of the topic: hitherto, the information available has been widely dispersed and difficult to access. It should prove to be a natural companion to two previous books on taxation published by Routledge and also edited by Luigi Bernardi.




Redefining Capitalism in Global Economic Development


Book Description

Redefining Capitalism in Global Economic Development reconsiders capitalism by taking into account the unfolding forces of economic globalization, especially in Asian economies. It explores the economic implications and consequences of recent financial crises, terrorism, ultra-low interest rates that are decades-long, debt-prone countries and countries with large trade surpluses. The book illuminates these economic implications and consequences through a framework of capitalist ideologies and concepts, recognizing that Asia is redefining capitalism today. The author, Li, seeks not to describe why nations fail, but how the sustainability of capitalism can save the world. - Merges capitalist theory with global events, as few books do - Emphasizes ways to interpret capitalist ideas in light of current global affairs - Reframes capitalism via economics, supported by insights from political science, sociology, international relations and peace studies




The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development


Book Description

Modernization theory : does economic development cause democratization? / Jose Antonio Cheibub and James Raymond Vreeland -- Dependency theory / James Mahoney and Diana Rodriguez-Franco -- Structuralism / Elliott Green -- Political development / Robert H. Bates -- The Washington Consensus and the new political economy of economic reform / Kevin Morrison -- Penury traps and prosperity tales : why some countries escape poverty while others do not / M. Steven Fish -- Culture, politics and development / Michael Woolcock -- Religion, politics and economic development : synergies and disconnects / Katherine Marshall -- Does inequality harm economic development and democracy? : accounting for missing values, noncomparable observations, and endogeneity / Christian Houle -- Ethnicity and development / Nic Cheeseman -- Civil conflict and development / Håvard Hegre -- The politics of the resource curse : a review / Michael L. Ross -- Taxation and development / Mick Moore -- How do governments build capabilities to do great things? : ten cases, two competing explanations, one large research agenda / Matt Andrews -- Leadership and the politics of development / Adrian Leftwich and Heather Lyne De Ver -- Colonialism and development in africa / Leander Heldring and James A. Robinson -- Investment and debt / Layna Mosley -- The role of the state in harnessing trade-and-investment for development purposes / Theodore H. Moran -- International financial institutions and market liberalization in the developing world / Stephen C. Nelson -- Foreign aid and democratization in developing countries / Danielle Resnick -- Organizing for prosperity : collective action, political parties, and the political economy of development / Philip Keefer -- Missing links in the institutional chain / Anirudh Krishna -- The comparative politics of service delivery in developing countries / Evan S. Lieberman -- Party systems and the politics of development / Allen Hicken -- Populism and political representation / Kenneth M. Roberts -- Africa's political economy in the contemporary era / Peter M. Lewis -- The politics of development in Latin America and East Asia / James W. McGuire -- Development and underdevelopment in the Middle East and North Africa / Melani Cammett -- Rethinking the institutional foundations of china's hypergrowth : official incentives, institutional constraints, and local developmentalism / Fubing Su, Ran Tao, and Dali L. Yang -- The politics of growth in South Korea : miracle, crisis, and the new market economy / Stephan Haggard and Myung-Koo Kang




Local Governance Innovation in China


Book Description

Despite a centralized formal structure, Chinese politics and policy-making have long been marked by substantial degrees of regional and local variation and experimentation. These trends have, if anything, intensified as China’s reform matures. Though often remarked upon, the politicsof policy formation, diffusion, and implementation at the subnational level have not previously been comprehensively described, let alone satisfactorily explained. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book explores how policies diffuse across China today, the mechanisms through which local governments actually arrive at specific solutions, and the implications for China’s political development and stability in the years ahead. The chapters examine how local-level institutions solve governance challenges, such as rural development, enterprise reform, and social service provision. Focusing on diverse policy areas that include land use, state-owned enterprise reform, and house churches, the contributors all address the same overarching question: how do local policymakers innovate in each issue area to address a governance challenges and how, if at all, do these innovations diffuse into national politics. As a study of local governance in China today, this book will appeal to both students and scholars of Chinese politics, comparative politics, governance and development studies, and also to policy-makers interested in authoritarianism and governance.




A New Economic Growth Engine for China


Book Description

This volume is a report by leading international economic experts on China's economic priorities in the coming years. From various aspects of the domestic and foreign situation, China has now reached a critical juncture in its economic development. Unless China is able to overcome the difficulties in undertaking further reforms in the next ten years, China would be caught in the middle-income trap and be unable to become a modern country. The future course of China's economic development is also of great concern to the rest of the world because the socio-political-economic conditions in China will have significant impact on global economic prosperity and on global political harmony.The book is a product of close collaboration between the School of Economics at Fudan University and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. They cover a new paradigm for growth, short-term demand management, institutional reforms for middle-term growth, and strengthening the fundamentals for long-term growth.




Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers


Book Description

The design of intergovernmental fiscal transfers has a strong bearing on efficiency and equity of public service provision and accountable local governance. This book provides a comprehensive one-stop window/source of materials to guide practitioners and scholars on design and worldwide practices in intergovernmental fiscal transfers and their implications for efficiency, and equity in public services provision as well as accountable governance.




China's Economy


Book Description

Containing ten quality chapters on China''s rural reforms and agricultural development, this first volume from the Series on Developing China: Translated Research from China emphasizes the importance of countryside, agriculture and the role of peasants in China''s economy. While the Chinese revolution has traveled a path of OC encircling the cities from the rural areasOCO, Chinese reforms were likewise started in promoting the household contract responsibility system in the rural areas OCo the majority of its population living in the countryside makes it the focus of the reforms. Such structural issues that readjustment of interests entailed as urban-rural divide and poor-rich gap are closely related to the rural reform. For this, a rural study centered on the three rural issues (agriculture, rural areas and peasants), or peasantography, is actually an academic OC gold mineOCO, which contains the richest possibilities for Chinese social science to contribute to the world. The above mentioned chapters cover an extensive range of issues in rural reform and agricultural development in China, including property right, food trade structure, the Township and Village Enterprises, non-agricultural employment, the mobility of labor force, land distribution, taxation and saving behavior. The research approach ranges from a macro- to microeconomics level, while in terms of research methodology, property theory, game model and quantitative economics are used, in combination with historiography and empirical case studies. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Academic Inquiries into the Chinese Success Story (116 KB). Contents: Academic Inquiries into the OC Chinese Success StoryOCO (Z-L Deng); Gender Inequality in the Land Tenure System of Rural China (L Zhu); The Allocation of Decision-Making Power and Changes in the Decision-Making Style: Systematic Thoughts on China''s Rural Problems (S-G Zhang & N Zhao); Farmers'' Tax Burden in Rural China: A Political Economy Analysis (R Tao et al.); Effects of Labor Out-Migration and Income Growth and Inequality in Rural China (S Li); Grain versus Food: A Hidden Issue in China''s Food Policy Debate (F Lu); Saving Behavior in a Transition Economy: An Empirical Case Study of Rural China (G-H Wan et al.); Township Enterprises and Their Interest Distribution in Reform: A Three-Player Game Model (R-Z Ke); Rural Interregional Inequality and Off-Farm Employment in China (P Zhang); Food Demand and Nutritional Elasticity in Poor Rural Areas of China (J-W Zhang & F Cai); Reform in China''s Rural Areas: The Changes in the Relationship between the State and Land Ownership OCo A Retrospect on the Changes in Economic Institutions (Q-R Zhou). Readership: Economists, political scientists, sociologists, advanced undergraduates and graduate students interested in China''s economy, rural areas and society."