Fiscal decentralization in Jordan

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Abstract

This paper aims to measure the degree of fiscal decentralization in Jordan by estimating the indicators used by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These are the share of local units in public revenues, the share of public spending, and the share of compensation for workers in local units from the total compensation of workers in the public sector. The study uses set of data about public revenues and expenditures of the central government, independent government units, as well as the municipalities’ budgets figures. These data are for the period 2016-2018 and published electronically by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Local Administration in Jordan. The study revealed progress in the field of political and administrative decentralization represented in the establishment of elected councils at the national, regional, and municipal levels and the transfer of a number of powers from central authorities to regional or local bodies. The issuance of a new decentralization law and the amendment of the Municipalities Law in 2015. The results showed that the degree of fiscal decentralization is very low in Jordan, especially when compared to other countries that had implemented decentralization reforms.

Keywords: Fiscal Decentralization, Public Finance, Public Governance and Regulation, Development Economic, Local Government‎

Authors’ individual contribution: The Author is responsible for all the contributions to the paper according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) standards.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: H1, H2, H3, H7, R5

Received: 30.08.2020
Accepted: 30.10.2020
Published online: 03.11.2020

How to cite this paper: Aljaloudi, J. (2020). Fiscal decentralization in Jordan. Journal of Governance & Regulation, 9(4), 37-46. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv9i4art3