Even when efficiency gains can be expected from contracting out municipal services, it surprisingly rarely occurs. Political pressure by interest groups, especially unions, is usually assumed responsible. We argue that the effectiveness of such pressure is actually a function of a service's...

Background: China's rapid economic transformation is similar in some ways to those that have occurred in other rapidly developing nations. Is the pattern in China the same? Methods: Cross-country macrodata are used to compare class self-identification transition in China with other similar...

Corruption is a function of its return relative to engaging in productive activities. This paper presents an approach for thinking about the institutional features of societies and the resulting amount of corruption. The empirical results suggest that political competition is more important than...