Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate conditions under which voters’ comparison of relative performance between adjacent jurisdictions can help reduce rent-seeking by politicians. Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical model was developed to examine the effectiveness...

A survey of over 300 residents’ and visitors’ (non-residents) perceptions of tsunami hazards was carried out along the west coast of Washington State during August and September 2001. The study quantified respondents’ preparedness to deal with tsunami hazards. Despite success in...

Several coastal communities on the North Island of New Zealand were evacuated during the 2009 Samoan Tsunami warning. This study aimed to explore the risk perception and preparedness levels of a small cohort of people living in an at-risk area. Qualitative data were collected using...

This paper assesses the impact on economic growth of increased efficiency of public spending in primary and lower-secondary education. Higher efficiency in publ ic spending in schools can bolster growth through two main channels. On the one hand, it can allow a transfer of labour from the public...

This paper investigates optimal monetary policy in an overlapping-generations model with endogenous growth fueled by the accumulation of human capital and under a cash-in-advance constraint. We consider the case where the government finances public education fully by seigniorage. Three main...

This paper examines the interplay between public education expenditure and economic growth in a two-sector model. We reveal that agents' preferences for services, education and savings play a major role in the relationship between growth and public education expenditures, as long as production...

This paper analyzes the political economy of public education and lump-sum transfer in an overlapping-generation model of a two-class society in which the dy- namics of inequality is driven by the accumulation of human capital. The two redistributive policies are determined by voting, while...

This paper examines voluntary contributions to public education via charitable school foundations, booster clubs, parent teacher associations, and parent teacher organizations. We use panel data on school-supporting charities with national coverage from 1995 to 2010, which we geocode and match...

Decentralization of provision of public services has been an important item in the agenda of developing countries. While some scholars and practitioners argue that decentralization is associated with improvements in provision due to higher accountability, others note its potential pitfalls. In...