Scholars have long deplored voters' lack of interest in politics and argue greater political engagement would improve the performance of democracy. We consider a model of elections where successful communication of political messages during campaigns requires efforts by politicians and a...

This paper shows that electoral incentives deter politicians from supporting trade liberalization. We focus on all major trade liberalization bills introduced since the early 1970s in the U.S. Congress, in which House and Senate members serve respectively two- and six-year terms and one third of...

Different versions of pay-as-you-go public pension programs may have entirely different effects on the intergenerational distribution of income risk. If the pension benefit is a fixed proportion of previous income, a pay-as-you-go program increases the income risk of all generations. On the...

In this paper we focus on the connection between perception of the competitive pressure situation (unemployment, uncertainty, rising income and wealth inequalities, decreasing mobility) and demand for redistribution. Our context is Hungary, between 2000 and 2002. We identify some basic variables...

Since aging will probably cause a sharp increase in the demand for long-term care in the coming decades, in the numerous countries where Social Security does not recognize dependence on long-term care as a general risk of life, private insurance may provide long-term care for those who do not...

A munkaerő-piaci helyzet, a képzettség, bizonyos családszerkezeti összefüggések és a jövedelmi mobilitás a legfontosabbak azok közül az objektív tényezők közül, amely a jövedelem-újraelosztás iránti igényt meghatározzák. A munkanélküliek és kvázi-munkanélküliek, az...

This paper examines the relationship between corruption and the composition of public expenditures. First, I derive a theoretical model that links the degree of corruption in a country - to be understood as the prevailing culture of corruption - to distortions in the budget composition. The...

Intergenerational conflicts may arise when interests of different age groups do not align. We examine cross-country data to find evidence for this conflict in OECD countries. We derive our results from a FGLS estimation model, which is complemented by a System-GMM estimation. Data covers a panel...

Exploiting a natural voting experiment we identify female preferences for real policy issues in the electorate. We then analyze whether female or male politicians in parliament more closely correspond to female preferences. Holding constant revealed constituent preferences, there is generally no...

This paper examines the relation between political corruption and the composition of public spending. A rent-seeking model is used to describe political rent creation through the composition of public spending. Political corruption is indicated by empirical results for 29 OECD countries for the...