Evolution and Salient Characteristics of the Japanese Local Government System

This paper provides an overview of salient characteristics of the Japanese local government system paying special attention to the following: (a) the strong preference for regional balance in fiscal transfer rules; (b) the lack of systematic influence by individual politicians in grant allocations; (c) the practice of exchanging staff across different levels of government; (d) the use of attractive work and remuneration conditions to obtain and retain high quality staff at the local government level; (e) the use of local governments as development project implementation agencies; (f) the use of amalgamation to create larger local government units to exploit economies of scale; and (e) the exercise of local policy initiatives. World Bank Institute Copyright © 2001 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.