Failures in collective decision-making and public management reflect weaknesses, on the one hand, in the institutional and organizational infrastructure available for attending matters of common interest to society, and on the other, in the public policies formulated, designed and implemented to deal with them.

The presentation concentrates on one source of weakness affecting public policies: inadequate integration, coherence and coordination among them.

One central policy message of the analysis is that sustainable development, in Latin America as in other regions in the world, requires substantial improvement in the public sector provision of coordination on the part of all government levels.

About Juan Carlos Lerda
Juan Carlos Lerda Professor on Public Finance and Fiscal Descentralisation University of Chile, Santiago and International Consultant on Fiscal Policy at UN-ECLAC

Juan Carlos Lerda is International Consultant on Fiscal Policy, currently under contract with UN-ECLAC on Fiscal Policy and Sustainable Development ( July 2003 to April 2004). Previously, he served as a member of the Panel of Fiscal Experts of the International Monetary Fund´s Fiscal Affairs Department, under short term contract on Tax Policy Reform and Fiscal ROSC Reports.

Lerda is also Professor on Public Finance and Fiscal Decentralization at University of Chile, Santiago.