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Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Government and Policy Reversals in Southeastern Europe

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Builds on the so-called 'second generation theory' of fiscal decentralisation

  • Addresses the issues of how the countries of former Yugoslavia and Albania evolved in the post-conflict period and how they responded to the global financial/Eurozone crisis

  • Explores 4 major sub-themes of decentralisation: political, administrative, functional and fiscal

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxii
  2. Europeanisation and the Political Economy of Decentralisation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19
    2. Slovenia: Vertical Imbalance in Local Government Financing

      • Boštjan Brezovnik, Mateja Finžgar, Žan Jan Oplotnik
      Pages 21-52
    3. Croatia: Instruments of Fiscal Equalisation

      • Anto Bajo, Marko Primorac
      Pages 53-80
  3. Crisis, Policy Reversals, and Local Government Debt

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 81-81
    2. Serbia: Local Government Financing and Non-transparency of Fiscal Data

      • Sanja Kmezić, Katarina Đulić
      Pages 83-121
    3. Montenegro: Volatile Municipal Revenues

      • Jadranka Kaluđerović, Mijat Jocović
      Pages 123-161
    4. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Local Government Debt

      • Halko Basarić, Nina Branković, Lejla Lazović-Pita
      Pages 163-199
  4. Local Governments in Transition and the Political Economy of Ethnicity

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 201-201
    2. Kosovo: Can Decentralisation Resolve Ethnic Conflict?

      • Adem Beha, Anton Vukpalaj
      Pages 231-264
  5. Albania: Struggling with the Legacy of Extreme Centralisation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 265-265
    2. Albania: Aligning Territorial and Fiscal Decentralisation

      • Elton Stafa, Merita Xhumari
      Pages 267-294
  6. Conclusions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 295-295
    2. Conclusions: Policy Changes and Policy Reversals

      • Katarina Đulić, Sanja Kmezić, William Bartlett
      Pages 297-322
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 323-327

About this book

This edited collection provides a comprehensive geographic and chronological overview of the decentralisation processes in the successor states of former Yugoslavia and Albania during their transition and EU integration years, from 1990 until 2016. These countries present a unique laboratory for the analysis of economic, social and political change, having traversed armed conflicts, dramatic economic and political changes, and EU pre-accession processes involving deep institutional reform. They have also endured the Eurozone crisis, which has led to high levels of unemployment, wide fiscal gaps and dangerously high levels of indebtedness.

Observing the quarter century-long transition from socialism to capitalism through the prism of decentralisation sheds new light on studying the political economy of the region and the current status of the individual countries in terms of economic development and their EU integration progress. The contributors enrich the wider literature on fiscal decentralisation in transition countries by exploring several broad questions on democratisation, the political economy of post-communist transition, the role of external actors in policy transfer and the issue of financial stability in the post-crisis period.


Editors and Affiliations

  • London School of Economics and Political Science, European Institute, London, UK

    William Bartlett

  • University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Sanja Kmezić

  • Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration, Belgrade, Serbia

    Katarina Đulić

About the editors

William Bartlett is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He is coordinator of the LSEE Research Network on Social Cohesion in South East Europe and has carried out numerous research and consultancy projects, including those for the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the European Training Foundation, UNDP and UNICEF.

Sanja Kmezić is Lecturer at the Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria. Kmezić is a co-founder of the non-profit think tank European Research Academy Belgrade (EURAK), Serbia and has worked as an advisor on various international development programmes aimed at local government and public administration reform.

Katarina Đulić is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also a co-founder of EURAK and has carried out numerous consultancy projects for the International Finance Corporation, USAID and SECO aimed at governance and public financial management reform.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Government and Policy Reversals in Southeastern Europe

  • Editors: William Bartlett, Sanja Kmezić, Katarina Đulić

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96092-0

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-96091-3Published: 12 November 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-07142-4Published: 21 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-96092-0Published: 31 October 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXII, 327

  • Number of Illustrations: 24 b/w illustrations, 14 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Economic Policy, European Economics, Political Economy/Economic Systems, Institutional/Evolutionary Economics

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access