We propose a distinction between active waste and passive waste as determinantsof the cost of public services. Active waste entails utility for the publicdecision maker (as in the case of bribery) whereas passive waste does not (asin the case of inefficiency due to red tape). To assess the...

We introduce a model of redistributive income taxation and public expenditure. Thisjoint treatment permits analyzing the interdependencies between the two policies: onecannot be chosen independently of the other. Empirical evidence reveals that partisanconfrontation essentially falls on...

The new Labour Government in Britain has made the reduction of childpoverty one of its central objectives. This paper describes the specificinitiatives involved in Labour’s approach and weighs them up in termsof their potential impact. After setting out the extent of the problem ofchild...

Government policies on disability – and criticism of them – rest in parton an understanding of the circumstances of disabled people informedby cross-sectional survey data, dividing the population into “thedisabled” and “the non-disabled”. While conceptual debates about thenature of...

Since the mid-1990s the term and phenomenon of “social exclusion” has attractedmuch academic attention in the UK, and since 1997 has been an explicit focus ofgovernment policy. In a new book, CASE members examine the debate around themeaning of the term, and the extent and nature of problems...

John Hills and Orsolya Lelkes have analysed results from the National Centrefor Social Research’s 1998 British Social Attitudes survey on public attitudes toredistribution and social security benefits and at how these relate to currentgovernment policies.There is a persistent public appetite...

The housing system is intrinsically linked to almost every major area of government policy fromthe economy and taxation to the environment and education. It is driven by a huge range offactors from the behaviour of individuals to global economic forces. It is also in most casesthe greatest asset...

The last year has seen a transition inCASE’s activities, with the completionof our long-term programme for theEconomic and Social Research Council(ESRC) in January, results from whichwere brought together in a conferenceto celebrate the Centre’s tenthanniversary in January, with...

This paper explores the feasibility and desirability of CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR). We identify CSR with creation of publicgoods or curtailment of public bads. Using a model with pro…t-maximizing …firms, the paper shows that there is a direct parallel be-tween CSR and traditional...

The experience of West Bengal under the panchayat system stands in sharp contrast withthat of other states and, together with land reform, it has been credited for playing animportant role in the impressive economic turnaround of the state since the mid 1980s. WestBengal is the first and the...