Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Essays in fiscal decentralisation effects on economic growth, health and education

Ahmad, Iftikhar (2013) Essays in fiscal decentralisation effects on economic growth, health and education. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent. (doi:10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94153) (KAR id:94153)

PDF (Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of this thesis enables read aloud functionality of the text.)
Language: English


Download this file
(PDF/115MB)
[thumbnail of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of this thesis enables read aloud functionality of the text.]
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94153

Abstract

The first essay discusses the effects of fiscal decentralisation on economic growth in Pakistan, where the resource distribution formula was based on single-criterion (i.e. population only). Following the cointegration approach, this is the first ever study to disentangle the short run effects of fiscal decentralisation from its long run implications on the economic growth in Pakistan. The automated general-to-specific (Gets) modelling technique was adopted to find a representative parsimonious model, for a relatively short time series dataset. The study identified that in Pakistan, the focus mainly remained on partial fiscal decentralisation, where the provinces remained dependent upon federal transfers. Evidence suggests a long run cointegrating relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth, making us aware of the immediate consequences of a resource shift policy, in addition to its long-run effects. Analysis suggests that in order to stimulate economic growth, emphasis should be shifted towards entrusting provinces with higher taxation powers. In addition, the diversification of the resource distribution formula, with the inclusion of efficiency enhancing measures, might also help in achieving higher economic efficiency. Education and health sectors are known to have massive impact on the quality of human life. In this context, health sector is discussed in the second essay to analyse the impact of fiscal decentralisation on various health sector indicators in Pakistan. Two datasets were used for the separate analysis of the national (1974-2009) and provincial (1980-2001) health indicators. It was learnt that health sector remained neglected both at the national and provincial level. To a surprise, negative long run cointegrating relationship was found for the effects of federal transfers on health expenditures at the national level. The provincial analysis however suggests that federal transfers improved hospital beds availability in the economically active provinces, which were presumably more efficient. Provincial autonomy failed to play a role in the improvement of the health sector. The analysis highlights the social implications of federal transfers. Differences in results for economically distinct provinces hint towards the efficiency aspect of resource utilisation.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD))
Thesis advisor: Heady, Christopher J
Thesis advisor: Krolzig, Hans-Martin
DOI/Identification number: 10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94153
Additional information: This thesis has been digitised by EThOS, the British Library digitisation service, for purposes of preservation and dissemination. It was uploaded to KAR on 25 April 2022 in order to hold its content and record within University of Kent systems. It is available Open Access using a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivatives (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) licence so that the thesis and its author, can benefit from opportunities for increased readership and citation. This was done in line with University of Kent policies (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/strategy/docs/Kent%20Open%20Access%20policy.pdf). If you feel that your rights are compromised by open access to this thesis, or if you would like more information about its availability, please contact us at ResearchSupport@kent.ac.uk and we will seriously consider your claim under the terms of our Take-Down Policy (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/regulations/library/kar-take-down-policy.html).
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Economics
SWORD Depositor: SWORD Copy
Depositing User: SWORD Copy
Date Deposited: 22 Sep 2022 11:02 UTC
Last Modified: 20 Nov 2023 14:35 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/94153 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.