This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

The Political Economy of Fiscal Policy

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Daniel E. Ingberman
Robert P. Inman
Abstract

If there has been a dominant trend in the evolution of the modern industrial societies of this century it has been the growing importance of government in the allocation of social resources. It is important that we appreciate the fundamentally political nature of the formation of government economic policy. This survey reviews and assesses our present understanding of how the political system might shape a nation's fiscal policy. Our approach is eclectic, drawing both from economics and political science, and decidedly micro-analytic in its orientation. From economics we adopt the perspective of utility maximizing agents and the analytics of trade, agreement, and market failure. From political science we learn just how and when these individual agents might act collectively to provide public goods, redistribute income, or issue government debt. Together the micro-analytics of economics and political science form the core theory of the 'new' political economy and provide a framework for understanding the emergence, and the performance, of governments. There is no more important test for the new discipline than providing a compelling explanation for the formation of fiscal policy in democratic societies.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w2405.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: Access to the full text is generally limited to series subscribers, however if the top level domain of the client browser is in a developing country or transition economy free access is provided. More information about subscriptions and free access is available at http://www.nber.org/wwphelp.html.

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 2405.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Mar 1989
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2405

Note: PE
Contact details of provider:
Postal: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Phone: 617-868-3900
Email:
Web page: http://www.nber.org
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Cohen, Linda & Matthews, Steven A, 1980. "Constrained Plott Equilibria, Directional Equilibria and Global Cycling Sets," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(5), pages 975-86, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Hamilton, Jonathan H., 1986. "The flypaper effect and the deadweight loss from taxation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 148-155, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Gramlich, Edward M & Rubinfeld, Daniel L, 1982. "Micro Estimates of Public Spending Demand Functions and Tests of the Tiebout and Median-Voter Hypotheses," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(3), pages 536-60, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Barro, Robert J, 1979. "On the Determination of the Public Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 940-71, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Roberts, Kevin W. S., 1977. "Voting over income tax schedules," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 329-340, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Rubinstein, Ariel, 1982. "Perfect Equilibrium in a Bargaining Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 97-109, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Nordhaus, William D, 1975. "The Political Business Cycle," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(2), pages 169-90, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Osborne, Martin J., 1984. "Why do some goods bear higher taxes than others?," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 301-316, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Slutsky, Steven, 1979. "Equilibrium under a-Majority Voting," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(5), pages 1113-25, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Goodman, Robert P, 1973. "Private Demands for Public Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(3), pages 280-96, June.
    Other versions:
  11. Bernhardt, M. Daniel & Ingerman, Daniel E., 1985. "Candidate reputations and the `incumbency effect'," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 47-67, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Meltzer, Allan H & Richard, Scott F, 1981. "A Rational Theory of the Size of Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 914-27, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Greenberg, Joseph, 1979. "Consistent Majority Rules over Compact Sets of Alternatives," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(3), pages 627-36, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Klevorick, Alvin K. & Kramer, Gerald H., 1973. "Social choice on pollution management: the genossenschaften," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 101-146, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Rubinfeld, Daniel L., 1987. "The economics of the local public sector," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 11, pages 571-645 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Wright, Randall, 1986. "The redistributive roles of unemployment insurance and the dynamics of voting," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 377-399, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Goldstein, G. S. & Pauly, M. V., 1981. "Tiebout bias on the demand for local public goods," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 131-143, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Hamada, Koichi, 1973. "A simple majority rule on the distribution of income," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 243-264, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Cremer, Jacques, 1986. "Cooperation in Ongoing Organizations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 101(1), pages 33-49, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Baron, David P & Ferejohn, John, 1987. "Bargaining and Agenda Formation in Legislatures," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 303-09, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Barlow, Robin, 1970. "Efficiency Aspects of Local School Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(5), pages 1028-40, Sept.-Oct. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Hamilton, Bruce W., 1983. "The flypaper effect and other anomalies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 347-361, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Peltzman, Sam, 1980. "The Growth of Government," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(2), pages 209-87, October.
    Other versions:
  25. Jessop, Bob, 1977. "Recent Theories of the Capitalist State," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(4), pages 353-73, December.
  26. Orr, Larry L, 1976. "Income Transfers as a Public Good: An Application to AFDC," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(3), pages 359-71, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  27. McKelvey, Richard D., 1976. "Intransitivities in multidimensional voting models and some implications for agenda control," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 472-482, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  28. Schofield, Norman, 1978. "Instability of Simple Dynamic Games," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(3), pages 575-94, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  29. Peck, Richard M, 1986. "Power and Linear Income Taxes: An Example," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(1), pages 87-94, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  30. Coughlin, Peter & Nitzan, Shmuel, 1981. "Electoral outcomes with probabilistic voting and Nash social welfare maxima," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 113-121, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  31. Gevers, Louis & Proost, Stefaan, 1978. "Some effects of taxation and collective goods in postwar America : A tentative appraisal," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 115-137, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  32. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge, 1982. "Fiscal Incidence at the Local Level," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(5), pages 1207-18, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  33. Davis, Otto A & DeGroot, Morris H & Hinich, Melvin J, 1972. "Social Preference Orderings and Majority Rule," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 40(1), pages 147-57, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  34. Weingast, Barry R & Shepsle, Kenneth A & Johnsen, Christopher, 1981. "The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(4), pages 642-64, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  35. Kramer, Gerald H & Klevorick, Alvin K, 1974. "Existence of a 'Local' Co-operative Equilibrium in a Class of Voting Games," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 539-47, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  36. Inman, Robert P., 1982. "Public employee pensions and the local labor budget," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 49-71, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  37. Fisher, Ronald C., 1982. "Income and grant effects on local expenditure: The flypaper effect and other difficulties," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 324-345, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  38. Hart, Oliver, 1982. "A Model of Imperfect Competition with Keynesian Features," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 97(1), pages 109-38, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  39. Mackay, Robert J & Weaver, Carolyn L, 1983. "Commodity Bundling and Agenda Control in the Public Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 98(4), pages 611-35, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  40. Romer, Thomas, 1975. "Individual welfare, majority voting, and the properties of a linear income tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 163-185, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  41. McKelvey, Richard D, 1979. "General Conditions for Global Intransitivities in Formal Voting Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(5), pages 1085-1112, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  42. Inman, Robert P., 1987. "Markets, governments, and the "new" political economy," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 12, pages 647-777 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? Citation analysis on IDEAS includes online papers that are freely accessible and whose text could be automatically analyzed, currently about 210000 papers.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-10.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.