Edited by Paul Smoke, Professor and Director, International Programs, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, US, Eduardo J. Gómez, PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, Brown University, US and George E. Peterson, Senior Fellow in International Public Finance, The Urban Institute, US

"'This is an important book. The new fiscal decentralization promised enhanced efficiency of public service delivery, reduced corruption, a reinforcing trend to citizen voice and participation, and poverty reduction. But, did it succeed? It is only now becoming possible to get some hard empirical answers. That is what the collection of essays in this book provides in a most systematic and rigorous way. In doing so it takes a cross-regional approach, whereby one can compare different public sector cultures and histories. Decentralization in Asia and Latin America provides new, technically rigorous, and important answers.' - Robert D. Ebel, George Washington University, the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, US 'Because of the broad political economy perspective taken by the chapter authors, this volume edited by Smoke, Gomez and Peterson constitutes a valuable addition to the ever increasing amount of literature detailing the county-level experiences with decentralization policies. The interdisciplinary approach considers the fiscal, political, economic, and administrative aspects of the process along with sufficient history for the reader to understand the context in which the decentralization (and in some instances re-centralization) policies have been undertaken. Although the chapters focus on Asian and Latin American countries, readers with interests in other regions of the world can gain considerable insight from these experiences.' -