The socioeconomic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt globally and across many sectors and population groups. While the long-term impact of the pandemic on economic growth is yet to be observed and assessed, history may provide some evidence on how public health emergencies have...

This note examines whether subjective general health in Europe has changed since the onset of the economic crisis. Subjective general health for Ireland, Spain and Portugal is compared before and after the onset of the recession. Two other European economies, Germany and United Kingdom, are also...

Participatory Budgeting (PB) has emerged as one of the major innovations in participatory governance for local management and local democracy worldwide. With more than 3,000 experiences recorded in over forty countries, PB is gradually changing the living conditions of increasing numbers of...

This paper studies the impacts of village elections on the accountability of the village committee, local fiscal sharing, and state taxation in rural China using data of 48 villages for the period of 19862002. Elections are found to substantially increase the share of public expenditures in the...

This paper reviews the extent to which policy interventions can affect risky behaviours such as smoking, drinking and diet. The justification for such intervention is typically a market failure, broadly defined. The types of market failure typically encountered are discussed. First and second...