In the field of regional policymaking, various approaches have been defined in the development literature over the past decades, and each approach has been the focus of regional policymakers in different periods. Fiscal decentralization policies with an institutional approach have been of interest over the past decades. The separation of duties and powers of local authorities along with incentive mechanisms for obtaining resources at the regional level have been considered in the institutional structure of the regions. Regional policymaking and design to promote regional governance, economic prosperity, reduce inflation, and improve the effectiveness of government spending in the regions has led to the formation of various theories and perspectives in the economic literature, and the economic and social effects of decentralization policies have been considered in various studies. The theory of economic duality, polarization theory, regional convergence theory, regional development with distributive justice, regional development with an institutional approach, and regional development based on land planning can be mentioned, and various approaches were used in Iran after the revolution. In the first and second development plans, administrative, financial and technical decentralization was proposed as a key policy for the development of the country's provinces. With the start of the third plan, in order to fulfill Article 2 of the Third Plan Law and towards structural and institutional reforms in the government, the necessary conditions were provided for the establishment of a decentralized system of regional planning and development. In addition to managing regional financial resources, these measures strengthened the presence and participation of regions by emphasizing their internal capabilities and potentials in the development and planning process. Many efforts were made to create regional balance and equilibrium at the national level. After the formation of the provincial revenue-expenditure system, the fourth development plan provided a basis for the development of provincial development documents and the establishment of a provincial budgeting system. This plan not only strengthened the management of provincial development and regional financial resources, but also paid more attention to the participation of regions in development planning, relying on their internal capacities, and regional policymaking with an institutional approach was put on the agenda. As a result, provincial institutions and regulations related to this system were formed during the two programs. The preparation and compilation of national documents for provincial development, the establishment of a provincial budgeting system, the decentralization of government development tasks, the connection of the credit for the acquisition of capital assets by provinces to their internal revenues (which was implemented only in the third program), and the delegation of the authority to determine the priorities of development projects to provincial institutions are five key approaches in the country's planning and budgeting system. These issues were clearly manifested in the Fourth Development Program, in the form of some articles of Chapter Six of the law entitled "Land Planning and Regional Balance" and continued in the form of the provincial revenue-expenditure system in the Fifth Development Program in Articles 178 and 179, and continued with minor changes in the Sixth Development Program in the form of the regional balance section. Based on the policies of fiscal decentralization, the provincial revenue-expenditure system was designed in the Third Development Program and financial and administrative institutions were formed at the provincial and county levels. Decision-making and decision-making for the development of the province and the distribution of credits for the acquisition of capital and expenditure assets were assigned to the Provincial Planning and Development Council and the County Planning Committee. The Revenue and Resource Mobilization Headquarters, the Provincial Allocation Committee, and the Specific Budget were formed at the provincial level, and a new approach to regional policy-making and planning was formed in the form of decongestion in the country, which continued with some changes during the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Development Plans. The instability of the duties and authorities of the provinces, the failure to create revenues and revenue ranks, the failure to observe the principles of the provincial revenue-expenditure system, the lack of a specific and precise plan for the development of the province considering the capacity of the regions, and the failure to accurately implement policies and incentive mechanisms in obtaining sustainable resources at the provincial level are among the most important problems of the regional policy-making system in the form of the revenue-expenditure system during these four plans, which were identified from the perspective of ten regional economic experts through interviews and questionnaires. Separation and delegation of regional development tasks to the provinces, creation of a decision-making level between the provinces and the sector to carry out trans-regional activities, creation of stability and sustainability in the tasks and operations of the provinces, matching the responsibilities assigned to the provincial institutions with the administrative facilities and capacity of the provinces, consolidation of provincial revenue titles in annual budgets, designing an incentive system mechanism for collecting provincial revenues, and establishment of an interactive sector-organization-provincial policy-making system in the country's planning system are among the most important desirable requirements of the decongestion process with an emphasis on the new provincial revenue-expenditure system in Iran.
In the Seventh Development Plan, the design of a new provincial revenue-expenditure system is mentioned. A review of its implementation mechanisms was presented in the form of two scenarios: increasing decongestion in the country with an emphasis on redesigning the provincial revenue-expenditure system and designing integrated development policymaking with an approach to the interactive relationship between the province and the region. Despite the emphasis of the People's Government Transformation Document on decentralization policies and regional balance and equilibrium, no section or chapter of the Seventh Development Plan Law is dedicated to this issue. Only in Article 17, Clause 5 of the bill does it refer to the new design of the provincial revenue-expenditure system, and the regulation of its pillars and principles is referred to the preparation of regulations, which seems to question its effectiveness by postponing the mechanism for designing the revenue-expenditure system to regulations and instructions. In order to implement part of the integrated development policy with the approach of the interactive relationship between the sector and the province, it is suggested that the design and implementation of the regional development and balance monitoring system be put on the agenda by preparing "Instructions for the Formation and Holding of Regional Tables" in the National Planning and Budget Organization, and in the framework of the second scenario approach, the executive regulations of Section C of Article 17 of the Seventh Development Plan should be prepared by determining the duties, responsibilities and authorities of the national and provincial executive bodies and an incentive mechanism for the provinces to obtain tax revenue with the aim of creating balance and equilibrium between the counties and provinces of the country.
JEL Classification: H71,H72,R50,R58