Public Choice and Financing Local Government Fiscal Reform in Albania

Abstract

The Albanian government has been decentralizing decision making. Central to decentralization is a system of intergovernmental revenue transfers, especially unconditional transfers. This study examines in what ways market conditions and policy options affect the central government and local government relationship. It analyzes unconditional intergovernmental revenue transfers between the central government and local governments to better understand Albanian fiscal decentralization. While the unconditional intergovernmental transfers during the time of this study were found to be stable, the fragmentation of local government units and the evolving role of the regions, could complicate decentralization. The lack of a clear path to local government debt and borrowing, coupled with the system of intergovernmental transfers, has resulted in few viable policy options for balancing local government budgets. A more diversified local revenue structure, coupled with the ability to borrow on the open market, could allow larger and better growth-enhancing public investments without additional budgetary pressures.