Includes bibliographical references (p: 422-487) and index

​Preface -- Part I Why Decentralization Matters -- 1. Fiscal Decentralization 101 -- 2. Has Decentralization Worked? -- Part II Decentralizing Expenditure -- 3. Expenditure Assignment and Management -- 4. Decentralizing and Financing Infrastructure -- Part III Financing Local Government: The Key to the Puzzle -- 5. Financing Local and Regional Government -- 6. Taxing Land and Property -- 7. Intergovernmental Transfers -- Part IV Summing Up -- 8. Financing Metropolitan Areas -- 9. Giving Decentralization a Chance -- References -- Index

"​This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. It focuses on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money." (from publisher page)