This paper examines changes in the allocation of public funds between production related public goods (PRPGs) and labour augmenting public goods (LAPGs) once elected village leaders replaced an appointment system. We derive a two-period theoretical model in which the interest of appointed...

Institutional design focuses on the task of providing accountability and effective monitoring of decision-making by bodies vested with the coercive powers of the state in a context where information is inherently limited, costly to acquire and asymmetrically distributed. This paper focuses on...

This article outlines the efforts of a small NGO, the Mareeba Wetland Foundation, to conserve nature and conduct tourism at its Mareeba Tropical Savanna Wetland Reserve in northern Queensland. It provides background about the establishment of the reserve and its nature and draws on the results...

It is argued that while considerable development of animal health economics has occurred in recent decades, it has not yet achieved its potential coverage. It has been mostly applied to livestock, particularly livestock used for commerce, and its application to a range of other animals has been...

Income inequality has increased sharply in higher income countries. Theories attributing this to bifurcation of labor markets are examined. Some theorists attribute this bifurcation primarily to technical change with influence from globalization. Others take an opposite viewpoint. A contrasting...

The Federal Medicare program provides subsidized health insurance for one in every seven Americans. Medicare covers a higher proportion of rural than urban residents because rural residents are more likely to be elderly or disabled persons entitled to benefits. The rapid growth of Medicare...

The number of farms and other estates that must pay Federal estate taxes has increased in recent years. Concerns about this increase and its effect on farms and other small businesses have generated a number of proposals to change Federal estate tax laws. Some proposals would affect only farms...

Current proposals would convert many domestic assistance programs into Federal block grants to be administered by State governments. Block grants give States broad discretion on how Federal funds are spent. In theory, this can lead to program improvements, reduced administration costs, and lower...

The effects of rail deregulation on feed transportation in the Northeast are examined through construction of a spatial equilibrium model of the Northeastern feed industry. Short-run and long-run effects of deregulation are analyzed through incorporation of rail rate structures for 1981 and...

This paper uses county-level data from California to test whether ethnic fragmentation and other measures of diversity and social capital are systematically related to spending on productive local public goods that affect rural quality of life. The specific focus of this paper is the impact of...