The role of citizens' initiatives figures prominently in contemporary debates on constitutional change. It is widely believed that permitting initiatives should improve the congruence between citizen preferences and policy outcomes across the spectrum of issues on which initiatives may be...

The welfare economic method for analyzing the case for government intervention is often critized for ignoring the political determination of policies. The standard method of accounting for this critique studies the case for intervention under the constraint that the level of the instrument in...

This paper analyzes the economic role and performance of a type of financial institution that is observed worldwide: rotating savings and credit associations. Using a model in which individuals save for an indivisible durable consumption good, the authors study rotating savings and credit...

This paper provides a comprehensive treatment of a basic income maintenance problem. It stresses the impact that imperfect information has on program design. First, the authors are able to unify the theoretical literature on the income maintenance problem. Second, they examine the impact of...

This paper studies the impact of lobbying on political competition and policy outcomes in a framework which integrates the citizen-candidate model of representative democracy with the menu-auction model of lobbying. Positive and normative issues are analysed. On the positive side, lobbying need...

The role of citizens' initiatives figures prominently in contemporary debates on constitutional change. A basic question is why are initiatives necessary in a representative democracy where candidates must already compete for the right to control policy? This paper offers one answer to this...