Suchergebnisse

Neoclassical economists insist that government outlays for administration, defense, & internal security generate pure public goods that benefit all members of the community since they are completely nonrival in consumption; eg, the benefits to one citizen from a battleship in no way prevent others from having similar benefits. Hence, in studies of fiscal incidence, economists allocate all such presumed benefits at their total costs to households by some a priori formula. It is argued that the benefits from so-called pure public goods -- insofar as they exist -- are civilization itself. They are the overhead costs of the modern state, whose benefits are community life, incomes, etc. They do not enter into individual preference functions in the usual manner; allocating them as if they did involves double counting. A better procedure is to ask who pays for these public overhead expenditures, or who pays more in taxes than received in benefits such as transfer payments, food subsidies, schooling, etc. The evidence from studies of fiscal incidence in several countries indicates that the rich -- who also most enjoy the "blessings of civilization" -- generally pay for them. 4 Tables. AA.

Discusses the challenges to the central English state concerning the delivery of public goods & services. The shift from neoliberalism to New Labour is recounted, with attention to problems of the top-down & bottom-up approaches & limits of public service reform. Current efforts to improve public services include reformed centralism, a new localism, & personalization, & the state's overall objective should be to influence its citizenry for responsible self-regulation & increase in the public good. L. Collins Leigh

A constructivist approach to global public goods -- Accounting for tastes : the social construction of utility and preferences -- Utility, preferences, and the individual public goods decision -- Leadership and the global monetary system -- Collective security as a global public good -- The individual decision to provide collective security : Romania and the Kosovo campaign -- Human rights : consensus, norms, and public bads -- Identities, utilities, and public goods decisions

RECENT RESEARCH INTO BUREAUCRACY AND REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, PARTICULARLY THE RESEARCH OF WILLIAM NISKANEN, HAS RECEIVED CRITICAL ANALYSIS. NISKANEN FAILS TO DEVOTE SUFFICIENT ATTENTION TO THE SPONSOR'S MOTIVATION AND DECISION-MAKING. THE ANALYSIS ALSO IMPLIES THAT THE BUREAU'S POSITION DEPENDS ON POLITICAL MECHANISM THROUGH WHICH DEMAND IS EXPRESSED.