Fiscal Decentralization, Development, and Governance

稳定、运转良好的经济体有潜力让各国更好地满足公民的需求。它们还创造了一个环境，使美国等邻国能够发展和繁荣。经济稳定和业绩背后的驱动力之一被认为是良好的治理，特别是重大的财政权力下放。但是，对权力下放对经济发展和减少腐败的影响进行的跨国分析得出了相互矛盾的结论。其结果是，无论是理论上还是实践上，对什么能促进良好治理，从而促进经济稳定和发展的理解都滞后了。该奖项支持的研究通过对最近一个财政权力下放案例的影响进行深入的、当地比较的、民族志调查，解决了这一政策挑战。这项研究很重要，因为如果可以通过对单个案例的深入研究来确定权力下放和善政之间的联系，那么就可以推广研究结果，以改进全球的理论理解和政策。这项研究将由人类学家Jean Ensminger博士(加州理工学院)进行。研究人员将肯尼亚确定为这项研究的极佳地点，因为该国最近实施了强有力的权力下放版本。新的政府结构将全国划分为47个县，每个县都有一名州长控制着大量的财政资源。在民主国家，将权力下放与更好的经济表现联系起来的理论建立在两个未经证实的假设之上：公民将更容易获得信息，以便他们能够监督其领导人的表现，以及公民将绩效置于种族偏袒和庇护等其他因素之上。这项研究检验了这些假设和理论预测。由于对这一问题的定量研究结果不一致，研究者将主要采取定性和归纳的方法。研究人员将采用定性和定量相结合的方法收集数据，包括：采访州长，特别是那些被民间社会领袖认定为改革派的州长；采访选民和县级政府官员；分析县级纵向记录、投票记录和公开的民调数据；以及分析反腐败和审计机构的报告。研究结果应该有助于政策制定者理解强大的财政分权模式是否能为更有效的政策提供一条前进道路。结果还将支持更好地从理论上理解是什么促进了良好的治理和良好运行的经济体系。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Stable, well-functioning economies have the potential to allow nations to better serve the needs of their citizens. They also create an environment in which neighboring countries, such as the United States, can grow and prosper. One of the driving forces behind economic stability and performance is thought to be good governance, particularly significant fiscal decentralization. But cross-country analyses of the effects of decentralization on economic development and corruption reduction have produced contradictory findings. The result is that both theoretical and practical understanding of what promotes good governance and, thereby, economic stability and development, has lagged. The research supported by this award addresses this policy challenge through an in-depth, locally comparative, ethnographic investigation of the effects of a case of recent fiscal decentralization. The research is important because if the links between decentralization and good governance can be identified through an intensive study of a single case, findings can then be generalized to improve theoretical understanding and policy globally. The research will be conducted by anthropologist Dr. Jean Ensminger (California Institute of Technology). The researcher has identified Kenya as an excellent site for this study because the country has recently implemented a strong version of decentralization. The new governmental structure divides the nation into 47 counties each with a governor who controls significant fiscal resources. Theory that links decentralization to better economic performance in democratic countries rests on two unproven assumptions: that citizens will have improved access to information so that they can monitor the performance of their leaders, and that citizens value performance above other factors such as ethnic favoritism and patronage. This research tests these assumptions and theoretical predictions. Because of the inconsistent findings of quantitative studies of this problem, the researcher will take a largely qualitative and inductive approach. The researcher will collect data with a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, including: interviews with governors, particularly those identified by civil society leaders as reformist; interviews with constituents and county-level government officials; analyses of longitudinal county-level records, voting records, and publicly available polling data; and analyses of reports of anti-corruption and audit bodies. Findings from the research should help policy makers understand whether a strong model of fiscal decentralization can offer a path forward for more effective policy. Results will also support better theoretical understanding of what promotes good governance and well-functioning economic systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.