Abstract:

Basic of Study, The autonomy of local governments is one of the matters on which is placed great emphasis as far as the theory of local government and its practice are concerned. Today, in many developed and developing countries, a number of reforms, one of which is concerned with local government, have been made for the improvement of democracy and the provision of efficient public service. Local goverments are charged with important functions or responsibilities by the regulations related to the reforms of local governments. However, the income obtained are not proportional to the functions imposed, that is, the income is relatively lower. Hence, local governments in many countries experience an issue of financial source, resulting in a failure in carrying out their functions efficiently and effectively. Only if local governments are provided with sufficient revenue sources and financial autonomy can they carry out their functions efficiently. In this study, deals with the fiscal autonomy of local government in turkey compared to OECD countries in the light of theoretical studies. Aim of Study : The aim of the study, in the light of theorretical studies in the field of local government autonomy and generally accepted international criteria is to evaluate the fiscal autonomy of local government in Turkey and to compare the fiscal autonomy of local government in OECD countries Sources of Data: Theortical studies concerned with the fiscal autonomy of localAuthorities, the principles laid down by international instiutions for the fiscal autonomy of local authorities, and the data of Government Finance Statistics issued by IMF are the data sources of the study. Main Discussion and Results :In this study, in paralel with theorotical studies and the principles internationally adopted, the fiscal autonomy of local authorities in Turkey was evaluated as compared with that of the OECD countries. The results obtained revealed that the financial autonmy of local governments is much lower than that in OECD countries and that their own revenue were insufficient and dependent on central government for revenue sources. Such are the reasons that explain why local governments suffer from the shortage of financial sources and can not carry out their functions efficiently.

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