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Fiscal Restraints and Voter Welfare

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  • Timothy Besley
  • Michael Smart

Abstract

This paper explores the logic of …scal restraints in a political agencymodel with both moral hazard and adverse selection. The role of thepolitical process is both to discipline incumbents who may act againstthe public interest and to sort in those politicians who are most likelyact in voters'interests. We use the model to examine the optimality ofine¢ cient taxation, limits on the size of government, increasing trans-parency, and yardstick competition. Some conclusions are surprising.For example, we show that some forms of …scal restraint can only bedesirable when incumbents are su¢ ciently likely to be benevolent.We are grateful to Jim Hines and a number of seminar participants for insightfulcomments.1

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Besley & Michael Smart, 2005. "Fiscal Restraints and Voter Welfare," STICERD - Political Economy and Public Policy Paper Series 06, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:stipep:06
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    JEL classification:

    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

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