Fiscal Decentralization and Social Service Delivery: An Empirical Analysis of Balochistan

Abstract

Purpose: This study has been initiated to measure the impact of fiscal decentralization in case of Balochistan province by using both revenue decentralization and expenditure decentralization to measure the impact of fiscal decentralization on provision of health, education, employment and poverty reduction. Design/Methodology/Approach: In measure, we have applied ARDL approach on the data spanning from 1975 to 2016. Findings: Our results point out that fiscal decentralization improves the social services delivery in case of Balochistan province. Moreover, it improves the provision of health and education facilities in Balochistan. Further, our findings indicate that fiscal decentralization leads to reduction in the poverty and unemployment. In addition, we found that expenditure decentralization is relatively effective in the provision of social services as compared to the revenue decentralization in case of Balochistan. Implications/Originality/Value: Our study findings suggest that to improve the social services delivery; we may opt for fiscal decentralization particularly expenditure decentralization in case of Balochistan.