The human development impact of decentralization is the central focus of this paper, which addresses evolving patterns of fiscal decentralization in Argentina based on health and education indicators. The authors use previously unavailable data to look at decentralization in Argentina over time, and to document the positive impact of devolutionary decentralization on health and education, and the empirical relationship between fiscal decentralization and human development. The aim is to shift the focus of the general debate on decentralization away from purely budgetary issues.Decentralization, Fiscal Decentralization, Argentina, Human Development, Health, Education, Budgets, Macro-Economics,