The impact of decentralization on subnational government fiscal slack in Indonesia

Blane D. Lewis*, André Oosterman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Since Indonesia began implementing its decentralization program in 2001, subnational unspent balances have grown rapidly and have reached levels that many officials find unreasonably high. But the extent to which subnational government reserves are excessive, in general, is not obvious. A not implausible decrease in the price of oil would reduce transfers to subnationals significantly and, if sustained, could possibly eliminate reserves in a relatively short time. Central government should not take any immediate action to reduce subnational slack resources directly but should instead focus on removing the underlying causes of such.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)27-47
Number of pages21
JournalPublic Budgeting and Finance
Volume29
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

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