재정분권과 지역발전

Abstract

The economic and financial effects of fiscal decentralization have been reviewed. The effects could not be argued conclusively because circumstances and institutions differ from country to country. Several studied done for the high income countries show economic efficiency through fiscal decentralization cannot be earned. In the case of Korea, any policy measures for further fiscal decentralization within the existing framework should be careful because economic efficiency cannot be accrued in no uncertain terms. Regional development cannot be carried out by the hands of the central government. Furthermore, balanced local development needs a concerted approach by all level of governments as well as many private enterprises. The existing imbalance, between rural areas and large metropolitan areas, and between capital region(Seoul Metropolitan Area) and the other regions, cannot be alleviated by the leverage of fiscal policy tools alone. A dual system of fiscal scheme, which deals rural areas and prospering urban areas with different fiscal design, is suggested to cope with the dissimilar problems. Especially, it is highlighted that many urban local governments should propel self-efforts to consolidate their fiscal capacity.