JICA-RI Open Seminar on "Handbook of Multilevel Finance" by Prof. EhtishamAhmad, LSE

In many countries, including developing and emerging countries, “fiscal federalism” is adopted, in which local governments hold a certain level of fiscal autonomy against the central government. How to realise appropriate multilevel fiscal system between the central and local governments has been a challenging issue for both practitioners and academics. In the recent developments in the literature of multilevel finance, a political economic approach, where interactions among personally motivated politicians and associated institutions are taken into account, has emerged as the “second generation”. Prof. Ehtisham Ahmad, Senior Fellow of Asian Research Centre, LSE, is one of the leading scholars in this field, and he recently published a book “Handbook of Multilevel Finance” as a co-editor with Prof. Giorgio Brosio, University of Turin in Italy.

Handbook of Multilevel Finance comprehensively covers issues in the multilevel finance literatures in terms of theoretical developments and case of real practices. Firstly, the book provides a wide review on recent theoretical achievements using the “second generation” approach, where special emphasis is put on the incentive structure of stakeholders, institutional arrangements and information flows in order to realise multilevel finance works under appropriate governance. It also provides fresh and original perspectives on taxes (ex. VAT and property tax), budget systems, the management of liabilities and macroeconomic stability in the context of multilevel government finance. The book finally explores special topics concerning the poor and marginalized, structural change and the environment, natural disasters, and the task of overcoming conflicts as new challenges the decentralised systems, including those of developing countries, are facing.

The presentation of the book will be made by Prof. Ehtisham Ahmad, one of the two editors of the book. After 45 minutes comprehensive presentation of the book, an open question & discussion follows in order to facilitate further understanding and exchange of comments.

Presenter:
Ehtisham AHMAD, Senior Fellow, Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics, UK; Director, Regional Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence, Mauritius; Senior Fellow, Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany; Former Senior Advisor, IMF

Please click the 'Apply' button below and fill in the application form. We may close applications before the date in case we reach the fixed number, which please note.

Mr E. Yamada/Ms A. Honda (JICA Research InstituteE-mail: ditas-rsunit@jica.go.jp, TEL: 03-3269-2959