In many nations today the state has little capability to carry out even basic functions like security, policing, regulation or core service delivery. Enhancing this capability, especially in fragile states, is a long-term task. Countries like Haiti or Liberia will take many decades to reach even...

The recent surge in competition between state and private firms in global markets calls for a reflection on how to minimise any potentially distortionary effects on international trade and investment created by state enterprises while at the same time restraining any undue protectionist policy...

There are two principal rationales for the charitable deduction. Depending upon choice of rationale, some tax reform changes are suggested and others are not. A base measurement rationale suggests eliminating the deduction for unrealized appreciation, keeping the benefit as a deduction and not a...

This paper examines the behavioral influence of federal grants on nonprofit firms. The topic is of particular concern governments who wish to stimulate the private provision of public services. Recent research shows that grants may inadvertently reduce private sector provision, by causing a...

The prevailing aid orthodoxy works well enough in stable environments, but is ill-equipped to navigate contexts of volatility and fragility. The orthodox approach is adept at solving straightforward technical or logistical problems (paving roads, building schools, immunizing children), but often...

How is it that so many major, government-sponsored projects can lose so much money? The answer to this question does not lie with malign intentions on behalf of their promoters within government. In a highly readable but detailed account of the history of six major government project failures,...

If charity begins at home, scholarship on the charitable deduction has stayed at home. In the vast legal literature, few authors have engaged the distinction between charitable contributions that are meant to be used within the United States and charitable contributions that are meant to be used...

Do social movement organizations increase the supply of a public good? We address this question by investigating the role of generalist social movement organizations (SMOs) and technology-focused organizations (TSMOs) for the development of the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in...

This paper examines foundings of human services organizations after natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, and tsunamis and explains why only some communities bounce back by founding appropriate collective-goods organizations. Using natural disasters in California...

Government firms and authorities often sell services in the free market via affiliated consulting firms (CFs). In this study, I analyse whether these agents have an unfair competitive edge compared to private CFs. The theoretical analysis shows that private and state-owned CFs operate under...