• About us
  • GSDRC Publications
  • Research Helpdesk
  • E-Learning
  • E-Bulletin

GSDRC

Governance, social development, conflict and humanitarian knowledge services

  • Governance
    • Democracy & elections
    • Public sector management
    • Security & justice
    • Service delivery
    • State-society relations
    • Supporting economic development
  • Social Development
    • Gender
    • Inequalities & exclusion
    • Poverty & wellbeing
    • Social protection
  • Humanitarian Issues
    • Humanitarian financing
    • Humanitarian response
    • Recovery & reconstruction
    • Refugees/IDPs
    • Risk & resilience
  • Conflict
    • Conflict analysis
    • Conflict prevention
    • Conflict response
    • Conflict sensitivity
    • Impacts of conflict
    • Peacebuilding
  • Development Pressures
    • Climate change
    • Food security
    • Fragility
    • Migration & diaspora
    • Population growth
    • Urbanisation
  • Approaches
    • Complexity & systems thinking
    • Institutions & social norms
    • PEA / Thinking & working politically
    • Results-based approaches
    • Rights-based approaches
    • Theories of change
  • Aid Instruments
    • Budget support & SWAps
    • Capacity building
    • Civil society partnerships
    • Multilateral aid
    • Private sector partnerships
    • Technical assistance
  • M&E
    • M&E approaches
    • Indicators
    • Learning
Home»GSDRC Publications»Effects of decentralisation on social spending

Effects of decentralisation on social spending

Helpdesk Report
  • Freida M'Cormack
September 2011

Question

What is the evidence of numerically quantifiable benefits from development interventions that have created or strengthened local elected councils? In particular, is there any evidence that locally elected or newly devolved councils have, through their oversight role on budget allocations and expenditure increased the amount spent on social sectors, e.g. education and health?

Summary

Decentralisation and devolution to locally elected forms of government is often promoted as a means of: 1. giving local citizens and their representatives more decision-making power (political decentralisation); 2. redistributing authority, responsibilities and resources among different levels of government (administrative decentralisation); and 3. localising authority over raising revenues and decision-making in expenditures (fiscal decentralisation).

Evidence of the effectiveness of decentralisation on improving governance and social spending is limited. However, a number of factors have been identified as influencing local government’s capacity to improve social spending. These include:

  • the institutional framework
  • the interrelationship between political, administrative and fiscal decentralisation
  • the relationship between revenue and expenditure, and the available sources of revenue
  • the level of effective coordination between the different levels of government
  • how the benefits of decentralisation are distributed across sub-national governments.

file type icon See Full Report [PDF]

Enquirer:

  • DFID Pakistan

Related Content

Local Governance in South Sudan: Overview
Helpdesk Report
2018
Lessons from Local Governance Programmes in South Sudan
Helpdesk Report
2018
Infrastructure Project Failures in Colombia
Helpdesk Report
2018
M&E methods for local government performance
Helpdesk Report
2017
birminghamids hcri

gro.crdsg@seiriuqne Feedback Disclaimer

Outputs supported by FCDO are © Crown Copyright 2021; outputs supported by the Australian Government are © Australian Government 2021; and outputs supported by the European Commission are © European Union 2021
Connect with us: facebooktwitter

Outputs supported by DFID are © DFID Crown Copyright 2021; outputs supported by the Australian Government are © Australian Government 2021; and outputs supported by the European Commission are © European Union 2021

We use cookies to remember settings and choices, and to count visitor numbers and usage trends. These cookies do not identify you personally. By using this site you indicate agreement with the use of cookies. For details, click "read more" and see "use of cookies".OkRead more