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Redistribution Through Public Employment : The Case of Italy
Alesina, Alberto F.; Danninger, Stephan; Rostagno, Massimo - 2021
This paper examines the regional distribution of public employment in Italy. It documents two sets of facts. This first … is the use of public employment as a subsidy from the North to the less wealthy South. We calculate that about half of … the wage bill in the South of Italy can be identified as a subsidy. Both the size of public employment and the level of …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013242899
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How Does Risk Selection Respond to Risk Adjustment? Evidence from the Medicare Advantage Program
Brown, Jason - 2011
Governments often contract with private firms to provide public services such as health care and education. To decrease firms' incentives to selectively enroll low-cost individuals, governments frequently "risk-adjust" payments to firms based on enrollees' characteristics. We model how risk...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013126203
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Urban Public Finance
Glaeser, Edward L. - 2012
America's local governments spend about one-eighth of our national income, one-fourth of total government spending, and employ over 14 million people. This paper surveys the large and growing economics literature on local governments and their finances. A primary difference between local and...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013103516
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Does Decentralization Facilitate Access to Poverty-Related Services? Evidence from Benin
Caldeira, Emilie - 2012
We study the effect of decentralization on the access to some poverty-related public services in Benin. Compiling panel data from local governments' accounts and from surveys on 18,000 Beninese households performed in 2006 and 2007, our study suggests that decentralization has a positive overall...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013105726
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Rural Demography, Public Services and Land Rights in Africa : a Village-Level Analysis in Burkina Faso
McMillan, Margaret - 2012
This paper uses historical census data from Burkina Faso to characterize local demographic pressures associated with internal migration into river valleys after Onchocerciasis eradication, combined with a new survey of village elders to document change over time and differences across villages...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013113096
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Capacity Constraints and the Provision of Public Services : The Case of Workers in Public Health Clinics
Harris, Matthew - 2019
Unlike in the production of most goods, changes in capacity for labor-intensive services only affect outcomes of interest insofar as service providers change the way they allocate their time in response to those capacity changes. In this paper, we examine how public sector service providers...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012889489
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Public Debt Through the Ages
Eichengreen, Barry - 2019
We consider public debt from a long-term historical perspective, showing how the purposes for which governments borrow have evolved over time. Periods when debt-to-GDP ratios rose explosively as a result of wars, depressions and financial crises also have a long history. Many of these episodes...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012893976
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Public or Private Production of Food Safety : What Do U.S. Consumers Want?
Smith, V. Kerry - 2010
This paper reports estimates of consumers' preferences for plans to improve food safety. The plans are distinguished based on whether they address the ex ante risk of food borne illness or the ex post effects of the illness. They are also distinguished based on whether they focus on a public...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012758450
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Contracting for Government Services : Theory and Evidence from U.S. Cities
Levin, Jonathan - 2010
Local governments can provide services with their own employees or by contracting with private or public sector providers. We develop a model of this quot;make-or-buyquot; choice that highlights the trade-off between productive efficiency and the costs of contract administration. We construct a...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012759893
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A Theory of the Informal Sector
Azuma, Yoshiaki; Grossman, Herschel I. - 2021
In many countries, especially poor countries, a heavy burden of taxes, bribes, and bureaucratic hassles drives many producers into the informal sector. Is this situation explicable only as a consequence of either the ignorance or the ineptitude of the state authorities? On the contrary this...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013216486