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All or Nothing: State Capacity and Optimal Public Goods Provision

Author

Listed:
  • Felix Bierbrauer
  • Justus Winkelmann

Abstract

We study the provision of public goods. Different public goods can be bundled provided there is enough capacity, i.e. resources to pay for all the public goods in the bundle. The analysis focuses on the all-or-nothing-mechanism: Expand provision as much as resource feasible if no one vetoes - otherwise stick to the status quo. We show that the probability of the all-outcome converges to one as the capacity becomes unbounded. We also provide conditions under which the all-or-nothing-mechanism is ex ante welfare-maximizing - even though, ex post, it involves an overprovision of public goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Bierbrauer & Justus Winkelmann, 2018. "All or Nothing: State Capacity and Optimal Public Goods Provision," CESifo Working Paper Series 7238, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7238
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public goods; bundling; state capacity; mechanism design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D79 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Other
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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