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Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) are a tried and tested methodology to identify delays in financial and in-kind transfers, leakages, and other inefficiencies in government programs. This guidebook aims to provide a starting point for civil society groups and other organizations interested in taking a closer look at government spending processes, both on a small and a larger scale. It is designed to lead users from the definition of the appropriate Public Expenditure Tracking Survey to be used, to the dissemination of its findings, with an emphasis on using evidence effectively to inf

Expenditures, Public. --- Government spending policy. --- Expenditures, Public --- Government spending policy --- Political Science --- Law, Politics & Government --- Public Finance --- Public spending policy --- Spending policy, Government --- Appropriations and expenditures --- Government appropriations --- Government expenditures --- Government spending --- Public expenditures --- Public spending --- Spending, Government --- Government policy --- Economic policy --- Finance, Public --- Full employment policies --- Unfunded mandates --- Public administration

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The last two decades have witnessed a sharp increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and increased competition among developing countries to attract FDI, resulting in higher investment incentives offered by host governments and removal of restrictions on operations of foreign firms in their countries. Fiscal competition between governments can take the form of business tax rebates, productivity-enhancing public infrastructure or investment incentives such as tax holidays, accelerated depreciation allowances or loss carry-forward for income tax purposes. It can take place between governments of different countries or between local governments within the same country. This paper surveys the recent theoretical and empirical economic literature on decentralization which attempts to answer three questions. First, does theoretical literature on fiscal competition and "bidding races" contribute to a better understanding of such phenomenon in developing countries? Second, are FDI inflows in developing countries sensitive to fiscal incentives and is there empirical evidence of strategic behavior from the part of developing countries in order to attract FDI? Third, what evidence is there about fiscal competition among local governments in developing countries?

Central governments --- Debt Markets --- Decentralization --- Differentials --- Districts --- Emerging Markets --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Fiscal federalism --- Local governments --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Private Sector Development --- Provinces --- Public consumption --- Public expenditures --- Public finance --- Public Sector Development --- Public Sector Economics --- Subnational Economic Development --- Tax --- Tax autonomy --- Tax competition --- Tax concessions --- Tax incentives --- Tax policies --- Tax purposes --- Tax rate --- Tax rates --- Taxation --- Taxation & Subsidies

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Although many studies indicate that both the level and composition of public spending are significant for economic growth, the results in the empirical literature are still mixed. This paper studies the importance of country sample selection and expenditure classification in explaining these conflicting results. It investigates a set of fast-growing countries versus a mix of countries with different growth patterns. The regression specifications include different components of public expenditure and total fiscal revenues, always considering the overall government budget constraint. Total public spending is first disaggregated using a definition that classifies public spending as productive versus unproductive components, an a priori criterion that is based on the expected impact of public spending items on the private sector production function. After empirically confirming the validity of this definition in the panel analysis, the authors suggest and test an alternative definition of "core" public spending that may be more appropriate for developing countries. The empirical analysis shows that the link between growth and public spending, especially the productive and "core" components, is strong only for the fast-growing group. In addition, macroeconomic stability, openness, and private sector investment are significant in the fast-growing group, which points to the existence of an economic policy environment more conducive to growth in the first group of countries. The authors conclude that public spending can be a significant determinant of growth for countries that are capable of using funds for productive purposes.

Achieving Shared Growth --- Business cycles --- Composition of public spending --- Debt Markets --- Economic growth --- Economic policy --- Expenditure --- Expenditure classification --- Expenditures --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Fiscal affairs --- Fiscal policy --- Government budget --- Government budget constraint --- Macroeconomic stability --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Poverty Reduction --- Private sector --- Private sector investment --- Public disclosure --- Public expenditure --- Public expenditures --- Public Sector Development --- Public Sector Economics --- Public Sector Expenditure Policy --- Public spending --- Subnational Economic Development --- Total public spending

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This paper proposes that, to increase the efficiency of public spending in oil-rich economies, some or all of the oil revenues be transferred to citizens, and fiscal instruments such as taxation be used to finance public expenditures. The authors develop the case as follows. First, they confirm the well-known result that public-expenditure efficiency is lower in oil-rich countries compared with other developing countries. Second, they show that this efficiency gap is associated with differences in accountability to citizens of government's spending decisions. They find that various measures of accountability are systematically weaker in oil-rich countries. They attribute this difference to the fact that oil revenues typically accrue directly to the government, unlike tax revenues, which pass through the hands of citizens. Third, they show that, controlling for a number of factors, accountability is stronger in countries that rely more on direct taxation to finance public spending. They conclude that accountability, and hence public expenditure efficiency, can be increased by transferring oil revenues to citizens and then taxing them to finance public spending. The paper reviews existing schemes that redistribute oil revenues to the population, such as the Alaska Citizen Fund, to assess the feasibility of a modest proposal in African countries. The authors conclude that, while it may be difficult to implement such a proposal in existing oil producers, there is scope for introducing it in some of Africa's new oil producers.

Central government --- Debt Markets --- Expenditure control systems --- Expenditure Efficiency --- Expenditure per Capita --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Governance --- Macroeconomic stability --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Medium-term expenditure --- National Governance --- Policy recommendations --- Public budgets --- Public Expenditure --- Public expenditures --- Public Sector Development --- Public Sector Economics --- Public Sector Expenditure Policy --- Public spending --- Redistribution --- Revenue collection --- Subnational Economic Development --- Tax --- Tax administration --- Tax administration capacity --- Tax base --- Tax policy --- Tax revenues --- Taxation

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Effects of government investment are studied in an estimated neoclassical growth model. The analysis focuses on two dimensions that are critical for understanding government investment as a fiscal stimulus: implementation delays for building public capital and expected fiscal adjustments to deficit-financed spending. Implementation delays can produce small or even negative labor and output responses to increases in government investment in the short run. Anticipated fiscal adjustments matter both quantitatively and qualitatively for long-run growth effects. When public capital is insufficiently productive, distorting financing can make government investment contractionary at longer horizons.

Expenditures, Public. --- Public investments. --- Government investments --- Investments, Public --- Expenditures, Public --- Investments --- Capital budget --- Economic development projects --- Investment of public funds --- Appropriations and expenditures --- Government appropriations --- Government expenditures --- Government spending --- Public expenditures --- Public spending --- Spending, Government --- Finance, Public --- Public administration --- Government spending policy --- Finance --- Macroeconomics --- Public Finance --- Production and Operations Management --- Fiscal Policy --- Debt --- Debt Management --- Sovereign Debt --- Bayesian Analysis: General --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures --- Other Public Investment and Capital Stock --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General --- Employment --- Unemployment --- Wages --- Intergenerational Income Distribution --- Aggregate Human Capital --- Aggregate Labor Productivity --- Macroeconomics: Consumption --- Saving --- Wealth --- Public finance & taxation --- Public investment spending --- Expenditure --- Capital productivity --- Fiscal consolidation --- Government consumption --- Production --- Fiscal policy --- National accounts --- Public investments --- Consumption --- Economics --- United States