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Bureaucratic Rents and Life Satisfaction
Luechinger, Simon; Meier, Stephan; Stutzer, Alois - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, … - 2006
rents. Those rents can involve higher wages, monetary and non-monetary fringe benefits (e.g. pensions and staffing), and …/or bribes. We propose a direct measure to capture the total of these rents: the difference in reported subjective well … extent of rents in the public bureaucracy. The extent of rents is determined by differences in institutional constraints and …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005628003
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Should We Maximize National Happiness?
Frey, Bruno S.; Stutzer, Alois - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, … - 2006
Cross-disciplinary ‘happiness research’ has made big progress in the measurement of individual welfare. This development makes it tempting to pursue the old dream of maximizing aggregate happiness as a social welfare function. However, we postulate that the appropriate approach is not to...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005627967
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God does not play dice, but people should: random selection in politics, science and society
Frey, Bruno S.; Steiner, Lasse - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, … - 2014
corruption and decrease the large expenses associated with today’s democratic election campaigns. Random mechanisms can be …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010817312
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Improving efficiency through consolidation of jurisdictions? Evidence from the cantons of Switzerland
Widmer, Philippe K.; Elias, George; Zweifel, Peter - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, … - 2012
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the optimal scale of local jurisdictions (cantons) in Switzerland applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to the years 2000 to 2004. Aggregate output performance indicators for four local government activities (administration, education, health, and...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010817292
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Public Good Provision in a Federalist Country: Tiebout Competition, Fiscal Equalization, and Incentives for Efficiency in Switzerland
Widmer, Philippe K.; Zweifel, Peter - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, … - 2008
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it measures the efficiency in the provision of public goods by local jurisdictions applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Second, it relates ef- ficiency scores to a fiscal equalization scheme designed to mitigate the negative consequences of...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005756622
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The Happiness Gains From Sorting and Matching in the Labor Market
Luechinger, Simon; Stutzer, Alois; winkelmann, Rainer - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, … - 2006
Sorting of people on the labor market not only assures the most productive use of valuable skills but also generates individual utility gains if people experience an optimal match between job characteristics and their preferences. Based on individual data on reported satisfaction with life it is...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005585635
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Outcome, Process & Power in Direct Democracy
Frey, Bruno S.; Kucher, Marcel; Stutzer, Alois - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, …
Based on survey data for Switzerland, new empirical findings on direct democracy are presented. In the first part, we show that, on average, public employees receive lower financial compensation under more direct democratic institutions. However, top bureaucrats are more constrained in direct...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005627951
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Tullock Challenges: happiness, revolutions and democracy
Frey, Bruno S. - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, … - 2011
Gordon Tullock has been one of the most important founders and contributors to Public Choice. Two innovations are typical “Tullock Challenges”. The first relates to method: the measurement of subjective well-being, or happiness. The second relates to digital social networks such as Facebook,...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009003653
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Happiness, Economy and Institutions
Frey, Bruno S.; Stutzer, Alois - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, …
A cross-regional econometric analysis suggests that institutional factors in the form of direct democracy (via initiatives and referenda) and of federal structure (local autonomy) systematically and sizeably raise self-reported individual well-being. This positive effect can be attributed to...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005627842
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Beyond Outcomes: Measuring Procedural Utility
Frey, Bruno S.; Stutzer, Alois - Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, …
People not only obtain utility from actual outcomes but also from the conditions which lead to these outcomes. The paper proposes an economic concept of this notion of procedural utility. Preferences beyond outcome can be manifold. We distinguish procedural utility people get from institutions...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005627953