Decentralization in Colombia

Author
Alesina, Alberto;
Carrasquilla, Alberto;
Date
Sep 2002
This working paper focuses on four issues: (i) the rules of allocation of fiscal resources to different localities; (ii) the rules concerning how localities can spend fiscal transfers from the center; (iii) the rules concerning the balance of local governments' budgets; and (iv) issues concerning incentives for local politicians. This working paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the current situation and problems related to fiscal decentralization in Colombia. Section 3 discusses the policy issues related to fiscal federalism with an 'eye' focused on those more relevant for Colombia. Section 4 illustrates our proposal for reforms.