Using annual state-level data over 1983-87, this paper examines the effect of government size on corruption by public officials by including both demand and supply side incentives for engaging in corrupt practices. The authors' objectives are twofold. First, they assess the relationship between...

Individual preference for public goods and tax regimes are modeled in a utility-maximizing framework and the implications of the model are explored within the context of a median voter process. It is demonstrated that excise taxes, judiciously selected, may offer a political majority an...

Federal income tax enforcement varies greatly across individual states. While it is not known if this interstate variation enhances efficiency, anecdotal evidence suggests it does not. In this paper, the authors apply the model of B. R. Weingast and M. Moran (1983) to the treasury and explore...

Municipal governments are less likely to contract out for service delivery if citizen preferences for the service are heterogeneous. This conclusion is based on an analysis that extends to the public sector the empirical industrial organization literature on transaction costs and the 'make or...

We study economic growth in four emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC). Questions addressed are: (a) How do mediumterm growth determinants differ from short term determinants? (b) What are differences between growth effects of aggregate versus disaggregated exports? (c)...

This paper examines the determinants of cross-country housing price volatility over 2000-08, with main focus on the effects of corruption. Taking account of various other aspects and potential simultaneity issues, results show that greater corruption is associated with greater property price...

Using recent cross-national data, this research examines the determinants of the shadow economy, focusing on the relative effects of military and non-military government spending. Results show that, other things being the same, nations with larger military spending have smaller shadow economies,...