This paper deals with economic incentives and welfare-state arrangements in OECD countries; it also offers some lessons for would- be welfare states. These arrangements differ, of course, among countries. In particular, there is a wide variation in the extent to which countries rely on four...

This paper presents a model of strategic positioning during an election campaign in which candidates use results from opinion polls to extract information about voter preferences.

Government budget balance forces the endogenous use of distortionary tax instruments when an exogenous reform is implemented. The aggregate efficiency of such reforms is based on comparisons of simple summary measures of the Marginal Cost of Funds of the various tariff or quota changes with the...