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To Give and Get: Poverty Alleviation as A Local Public Good

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Dorsch
  • Brett Graham

Abstract

The paper theoretically analyzes the public choice of transfer payments to the poor (welfare spending) by modeling poverty alleviation as a public good provided by local governments. Voters that are not welfare recipients support welfare spending out of self-interest, rather than altruism, due to the public good property of poverty alleviation. Equilibrium policies are then analyzed according to characteristics of localities, such as population density and income inequality. More generally, our paper provides a technique to solve certain multiple peak problems that arise when a public goods policy has an explicitly redistributive component. To provide empirical support for our model, we use county-level demographic and government expenditure data from the United States Census.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Dorsch & Brett Graham, 2013. "To Give and Get: Poverty Alleviation as A Local Public Good," Working Papers 2013-10-14, Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics (WISE), Xiamen University.
    • Handle: RePEc:wyi:wpaper:002037
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    File URL: https://econpub.xmu.edu.cn/research/repec/upload/2011630152257055475115776.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Backus & Alejandro Esteller-Moré, 2014. "Is income redistribution a form of insurance, a public good or both?," Working Papers 2014/33, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    2. Peter G. Backus & Alejandro Esteller-Moré, 2017. "Risk aversion and inequity aversion in demand for unemployment benefits," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(2), pages 198-220, April.
    3. Peter Backus & Alejandro Esteller-Moré, 2014. "Is income redistribution a form of insurance, a public good or both?," Working Papers 2014/33, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    collective choice; poverty policy; public goods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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