Decentralization : the roles of local rulers in competences transfer

Abstract EN

The author examines the values and challenges of decentralization and the roles of local ruler as regards to the policies of competences transfer.

According to the author, the more decentralized a system is, the more it relies on lateral relationships and the less it can rely on command or force.

In the domain of social sciences especially economics, decentralization is narrowly defined as the study of markets.

However, viewed from the organization theory, decentralization has expression in the policy of delegating decision-making authority down to the lower levels in an organization, relatively away from a central authority.

The emphasis is that a decentralized organization shows fewer tiers in the organizational structure, wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-making and flow of ideas.

Although there is diversity in degree of decentralization across the world, there is no consensus in the empirical literature over the questions like ‘which country is more decentralized?’ This is because decentralization is defined and measured differently in different studies.