The Political Economy of Collective Action, Inequality, and Development

The Political Economy of Collective Action, Inequality, and Development

Author: William D. Ferguson

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1503611973

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This book examines how a society that is trapped in stagnation might initiate and sustain economic and political development. In this context, progress requires the reform of existing arrangements, along with the complementary evolution of informal institutions. It involves enhancing state capacity, balancing broad avenues for political input, and limiting concentrated private and public power. This juggling act can only be accomplished by resolving collective-action problems (CAPs), which arise when individuals pursue interests that generate undesirable outcomes for society at large. Merging and extending key perspectives on CAPs, inequality, and development, this book constructs a flexible framework to investigate these complex issues. By probing four basic hypotheses related to knowledge production, distribution, power, and innovation, William D. Ferguson offers an analytical foundation for comparing and evaluating approaches to development policy. Navigating the theoretical terrain that lies between simplistic hierarchies of causality and idiosyncratic case studies, this book promises an analytical lens for examining the interactions between inequality and development. Scholars and researchers across economic development and political economy will find it to be a highly useful guide.


A Course in Public Economics

A Course in Public Economics

Author: John Leach

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9780521535670

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This 2004 textbook explores how markets operate and governments' roles in addressing market failures.


Public Economics in Action

Public Economics in Action

Author: A. B. Atkinson

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 1995-03-23

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 0191521310

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This book surveys recent developments in public economics by taking as a case-study the proposals for a basic income/flat tax scheme. It discusses various approaches to taxation and presents a framework for a system that would affect both personal income and the social security system, replacing the one by a flat-rate income tax and the other by a guaranteed income. This idea has generated wide interest in a number of countries, and is being actively discussed by several political parties. This book explains how these changes would benefit a wide variety of social groups, leading to a greater redistribution of income. At the same time, it also raises the question of whether a single reform can meet the very different objectives of different supporters. The author reviews different areas of public economics in which there has been active research in recent years— namely the theory of optimum taxation, public choice theory, general equilibrium analysis of incidence, numerical tax- benefit modelling, and econometric studies of work incentives—and asks how these contribute to our understanding of this particular policy reform. He also indicates the promising directions for future research. The author does not argue for or against the basic income/flat tax proposal, but believes it should be on the agenda for any serious discussion of tax and social security reform for the twenty-first century.


Public Financial Management in the European Union

Public Financial Management in the European Union

Author: Marta Postuła

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-04-19

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1000578305

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This book reveals how to create efficient institutions and coordinate policy on a transnational scale to ensure that European Union integration can best meet social needs. It offers a combined technocratic and humanist perspective on the discussion of public financial management. The state, as part of its public policy, should seek to preserve our social and environmental values, yet there are mounting imbalances in society which point to the growing role of the state in minimising them. Under such circumstances, it is worth reflecting on how new challenges could require updated, more complex formulas, to deal with crises in current times and for social and economic policy making by states and the European Union generally, which would ensure their compatibility with the world financial markets. The work offers an in-depth and unique performance analysis of European Union institutions compared to the national entities of EU Member States. It contributes to the ongoing debate on global public goods and the processes involved in managing their provision. Further, it discusses public finance management instruments, indicating their historical evolution in practice and their effectiveness measured with the Human Development Index. The author presents a proposal of how to manage global, European and national public goods across three areas: environmental protection, transnational infrastructure projects and social policy. The book analyses public financial management instruments used during the recent pandemic, making a distinction between regular and emergency instruments and assessing their effectiveness in specific economic situations. This will be of interest to researchers and students of economics and finance, as well as decision makers and practitioners from governments, international organisations and specific non-governmental organisations concerned with issues of public finance management.


Policy and Choice

Policy and Choice

Author: William J. Congdon

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 0815704984

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Argues that public finance--the study of the government's role in economics--should incorporate principles from behavior economics and other branches of psychology.


Hunger and Public Action

Hunger and Public Action

Author: Jean Drèze

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 0198283652

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This book analyses the role of public action in solving the problem of hunger in the modern world and is divided into four parts: Hunger in the modern world, Famines, Undernutrition and deprivation, and Hunger and public action.


Worst-Case Economics

Worst-Case Economics

Author: Frank Ackerman

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2017-10-23

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1783087080

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Worst-case scenarios are all too real, and all too common. The financial crisis of 2008 was not the first or the last to destroy jobs, homeownership and the savings of millions of people. Hurricanes clobber communities from New York to Bangladesh. How bad will the next catastrophe be, and how soon will it happen? Climate and financial crises are serious events, requiring vigorous responses. Yet public policy is trapped in an obsolete framework, with a simplistic focus on average or likely outcomes rather than dangerous extremes. What would it take to create better analyses of extreme events in climate and finance, and an appropriate policy framework for worst-case risks? ‘Worst-Case Economics: Extreme Events in Climate and Finance’ offers accessible and surprising answers to these crucial questions.


Governing the Commons

Governing the Commons

Author: Elinor Ostrom

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-09-23

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1107569788

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Tackles one of the most enduring and contentious issues of positive political economy: common pool resource management.


Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values

Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values

Author: Roger E. Backhouse

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-03-25

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 1108898696

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This innovative history of welfare economics challenges the view that welfare economics can be discussed without taking ethical values into account. Whatever their theoretical commitments, when economists have considered practical problems relating to public policy, they have adopted a wider range of ethical values, whether equality, justice, freedom, or democracy. Even canonical authors in the history of welfare economics are shown to have adopted ethical positions different from those with which they are commonly associated. Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values explores the reasons and implications of this, drawing on concepts of welfarism and non-welfarism developed in modern welfare economics. The authors exemplify how economic theory, public affairs and political philosophy interact, challenging the status quo in order to push economists and historians to reconsider the nature and meaning of welfare economics.


Political Economy for Public Policy

Political Economy for Public Policy

Author: Ethan Bueno de Mesquita

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 0691168741

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The ideal introductory textbook to the politics of the policymaking process This textbook uses modern political economy to introduce students of political science, government, economics, and public policy to the politics of the policymaking process. The book's distinct political economy approach has two virtues. By developing general principles for thinking about policymaking, it can be applied across a range of issue areas. It also unifies the policy curriculum, offering coherence to standard methods for teaching economics and statistics, and drawing connections between fields. The book begins by exploring the normative foundations of policymaking—political theory, social choice theory, and the Paretian and utilitarian underpinnings of policy analysis. It then introduces game theoretic models of social dilemmas—externalities, coordination problems, and commitment problems—that create opportunities for policy to improve social welfare. Finally, it shows how the political process creates technological and incentive constraints on government that shape policy outcomes. Throughout, concepts and models are illustrated and reinforced with discussions of empirical evidence and case studies. This textbook is essential for all students of public policy and for anyone interested in the most current methods influencing policymaking today. Comprehensive approach to politics and policy suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students Models unify policy curriculum through methodological coherence Exercises at the end of every chapter Self-contained appendices cover necessary game theory Extensive discussion of cases and applications