Published In
International Journal of Public Administration
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2022
Subjects
Debt brake, Fiscal decentralization -- Thailand, Local government -- Thailand, Multi-level public finance -- Thailand
Abstract
Thailand in 2018 became the latest developing country to impose mandatory rules on its fiscal policy that included a national limit on the accumulation of public debt and direct control of local government budgets. Such fiscal recentralization is generally assumed in the literature on multi-level finance to weaken local economic, fiscal, and policy conditions. Yet a newer emphasis in this literature asserts the potential value of central governments in steering and constraining local governments through public finance. Such central steering may strengthen rather than weaken local governments via fiscal, economic, and policy conditions. In this paper, we use the emergent theory of pro-local fiscal recentralization to examine the initial evidence, as well as the emergent opportunities, for local governments in Thailand. We find grounds for optimism that fiscal recentralization will have positive effects, and identify strategies for local governments to optimize those effects. We conclude with recommendations for research and practice on fiscal recentralization in other developing country contexts.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2022 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article. The republished version is available from the publisher:
https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2022.2111580
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Locate the Document
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2022.2111580
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
DOI
10.1080/01900692.2022.2111580
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/38485
Citation Details
Gilley, B., & Laochankham, S. (2022). Can Fiscal Recentralization Strengthen Local Government? The Case of Thailand. International Journal of Public Administration, 1-12.