Most opportunistic-type models of political business cycles tend to posit a given objective for incumbents: maximisation of re-election chances. Though taking an opportunistic view too, we suggest a new explanation for a fiscal policy cycle: the incumbent’s concern with her own welfare in...

Recent empirical evidence, from countries in the European Union in particular, are much more ambiguous on the costs savings from private production of local public services than previous literature used to be. In this paper, an explanatory model of factors driving costs in solid waste collection...

In this paper we analyse whether collusion exists in the Dutch waste collection market, which shows a high degree of concentration. Although scale effects might be in accordance with this market outcome, the question is whether this concentration is in fact a result of fair competition. Using...

Using an urban land use model in which jobs and residences are spatially dispersed and mixed, we treat the general equilibrium of land, labor and product markets and the trade-off between labor supply, commuting and discretionary travel. We show that the decentralization of population and of...

Housing costs comprise a major part of most household budgets. Larger households require greater space than do smaller households but do not necessarily have larger incomes. The cost of extra housing space (e.g. the cost of an extra bedroom) may vary across different locations, both absolutely...

This paper contributes to the debate about the appropriate efficiency rule for the provision of a firm-augmenting public input. This debate is caused by the dissatisfaction of Kaizuka-rule, i.e. a Samuelson-type condition for public inputs, in the long run. Therefore the applicability of...

We contribute to the field of urban governance and globalization through an empirically-based exploration of determinants of performance of cities. We construct a preliminary worldwide database for cities, containing variables and indicators of globalization (at the country and city level), city...

This paper introduces a dynamic model of productivity measurement based on recent endogenous growth theories. The model presented in this study is based on dynamic duality theory and incorporate public goods (public capital and R&D) as external factors to the firms. It also rationalizes the...

This paper shows the impact that investment in infrastructure may have on the efficiency of agricultural products markets. Using daily price series for the most important agricultural crop in Peru (potato), in 10 cities from 1995 to 2001, we show that there is enough evidence to conclude that...