Economic and Social Progress in Latin America: 1994 Report (Inter-American Development Bank)

The Inter-American Development Bank's annual report, "Economic and Social Progress in Latin America", is a resource guide to the Latin American and Caribbean economies. The "1994 Report" features updated summaries and ten-year statistical profiles of regional and national economic performance. The statistical appendix includes year-by-year consolidated data for the past decade. This year's special section examines the relationship between fiscal decentralization and the effectivenes of social spending, particularly for primary education and health. Among several conclusions of this study is that the essence of fiscal decentralization is to deliver public services and goods and implement public policies in the most efficient and equitable way possible. Second, making this efficiency and equity a reality depends on a number of critical conditions that are not readily available in most Latin American countries. Third, the most important condition is to "get the prices right" at the local public sector level and to induce enhanced local fiscal effort. And finally, the basic problems with the current decentralization processesd in Latin America appear to be more political and institutional than technical.