Suchergebnisse

The book Domain Conditions in Social Choice Theory, by Wulf Gaertner, is reviewed.

We use an evolutionary model to study splintering within rebel groups. We assume that rebels possess cultural traits that encourage cooperation, defection (splintering), or a trigger behavior like Tit-For-Tat. We characterize the dynamic process by which rebels' discount rates determine whether splintering will occur in the rebel population even when cooperation is otherwise efficient. The results suggest that political action by governments that make rebels impatient also increases the likelihood of rebel group splintering. This may be counterproductive from a government's point of view. Our article closes a gap in the literature by providing a theoretical model for how rebel groups form. Policies that affect the patience of rebels and change the cultural context within rebel groups influence the likelihood of rebel group splintering. This article's contribution to the literature is twofold. First, it applies an established modeling approach to understand how even otherwise cohesive rebellions can splinter as a consequence of exogenous shocks that change rebels' time horizons. Second, we highlight how cultural context can influence this splintering process.

This paper explores the reasoning underlying Milton Friedman's preference for a small, unbalanced budget over a large, balanced one. Because the marginal return from government spending is less than the marginal cost (measured in terms of the amount of income private individuals remain free to spend), government expenditures have more of an adverse impact on the economy in his view than does the method of financing that spending. Using a panel data set comprising the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, we report evidence from the years 1967 through 1992 that growth rates in income per capita tend to be higher in states with smaller public sectors. Moreover, we find that while both deficits and taxes reduce the rate of income growth in a state, the negative impact of government spending is considerably larger at the margin.

This is a comprehensive set of essays on myriad facets of public choice by many of the leading contributors in the field. The coverage is excellent and the essays are terrific. I highly recommend this book for researchers and students. (Todd Sandler, University of Texas at Dallas, US). -- The Elgar Companion to Public Choice, Second Edition brings together leading scholars in the field of political economy to introduce readers to the latest research in public choice. -- The Companion lays out a comprehensive history of the field and, in five additional parts, it explores public choice contributions to the study of the origins of the state, the organization of political activity, the analysis of decision-making in non-market institutions, the examination of tribal governance, and to modeling and predicting the behavior of international organizations and transnational terrorism. -- With broad and up-to-date coverage, this second edition will appeal to politicians and policymakers, academics and researchers in public and social choice and political science as well as graduate students in economics, political science and public administration.